3M Glass Bubblesfor Commercial and Specialty Vehicles
In the transportation industry, every little bit of mass counts. Strategic, intelligent vehicle lightweighting is key to helping OEMs improve their fuel economy and battery range, control emissions and maximize fleet efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Reduce your part weight by up to 45%
Learn how to reduce part weight without compromising functionality or strength with the help of 3M™ Glass Bubbles. They can be added to sheet and bulk molding composites, injection molded thermoplastics and other exterior and interior components to help you save mass while achieving mechanical integrity. By displacing costly resins, they can also allow you to manage manufacturing costs.
3M™ Glass Bubbles come in various sizes, densities and compressive strengths. Excellent strength-to-density ratios let them withstand high shear, high pressure processes including compounding, injection molding and extrusion.
Application areas
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Lightweight your vehicle design by replacing steel or aluminum parts with ultralightweight sheet molding composites (SMC) made with 3M™ Glass Bubbles. They can help you lower SMC density below 1.0 g/cc and reduce part weight by up to 45%. Compatible with compression molding as well as Class A paintable surface finishes, 3M™ Glass Bubbles can be used in hoods, body panels, deflectors and other exterior SMC parts.
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3M™ Glass Bubbles can help you reduce weight in thermoplastics by up to 15% while enhancing your processing efficiency. They possess excellent crush strengths to withstand high shear, high pressure injection molding, and they enable faster cooling to help shorten cycle times by 15–25%. With a low coefficient of thermal expansion, they can also help you improve dimensional stability to mitigate warpage in under-the-hood parts.
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In hybrid and electric fleet vehicles, you can lightweight heavy battery casings by adding 3M™ Glass Bubbles to SMC battery enclosures, battery cushioning materials and other components. In potting resins, 3M™ Glass Bubbles can allow you to enhance thermal insulation while maintaining low viscosity for improved flow characteristics and processing.
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Product information for 3M™ Glass Bubbles
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See how tiny bubbles can make a big impact. View the full portfolio offering of 3M™ Glass Bubbles and access product resources, handling information and technical papers. Explore broader industry applications in segments such as automotive OEM and Tier, construction, oil and gas, telecommunications and more.
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Resources
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3M™ Glass Bubbles for Automotive Applications (PDF, 4.44 MB)
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3M™ Glass Bubbles for Sheet and Bulk Molding Compounds (PDF, 606.73 KB)
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3M™ Glass Bubbles for Injection Molded Parts (PDF, 487.15 KB)
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3M™ Glass Bubbles for Cycle Time Reduction in Auto (PDF, 712.91 KB)
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Let’s get started
See how 3M™ Glass Bubbles can help you lightweight your vehicle design. 3M transportation experts will assist in identifying a suitable grade for your application needs.
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