ADVANCED MATERIALS FOR AUTOMOBILE AIRBAG SYSTEMS

THE INTRODUCTION OF NON-AZIDE GENERANTS FOR AUTOMOBILE AIRBAG SYSTEMS PRESENTS NEW CHALLENGES IN THE USE OF MATERIALS FOR INTERNAL AIRBAG COMPONENTS SUCH AS PRIMARY AND SLAG FILTERS. BECAUSE NON-AZIDES ARE MUCH HOTTER (2130 DEGREES CENTIGRADE VS. 1090 DEGREES CENTIGRADE) AND CONTAIN MORE METALLIC OXIDES THAN AZIDES, CURRENT MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR USE WITH THESE GENERANTS. ULTRAMENT HAS DEVELOPED UNIQUE, ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE HIGH TEMPERATURE FILTER MATERIALS THAT PERFORM EXCEPTIONALLY WELL UNDER THESE ADVERSE CONDITONS. THE NOVEL STRUCTURE OF THESE FILTERS ALLOWS FOR A HIGH DEGREE OF FILTRATION WHILE MAINTAINING A LOW PRESSURE DROP. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION ( 1/3) IN THE GENERANT REQUIRED TO INFLATE THE AIRBAG, REDUCING THE VOLUME OF UNWANTED PARTICULATE CREATED AND REDUCING THE COST OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. IN THIS PHASE I PROGRAM, ULTRAMET PROPOSES TO FABRICATE PRIMARY HOT GAS FILTERS FOR DRIVE SIDE AIRBAG SYSTEMS TO BE USED IN ADVANCED INFLATORS EMPLOYING NON-AZIDE GENERANT. A MAJOR AIRBAG MANUFACTURER WILL TEST, AT NOT COST TO THE PROGRAM, ALL FILTER SPECIMENS FABRICATED BY ULTRAMET.