News

2023/7/18

SABIC expands specialty materials portfolio with new 'LNP' 'STAT-KON' compounds to help advance ADAS radar and improve safety

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS, July 13, 2023 - SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, today announced the expansion of its specialty materials portfolio for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to further strengthen occupant and pedestrian safety. The company’s two new LNP^™ STAT-KON^™ compounds are well suited for ADAS radar absorbers and can help propel adoption of millimeter wave (mmWave) radar, which significantly improves sensor accuracy and range. By providing robust and high-resolution information about remote objects, mmWave radar could enhance driving safety and support the trend toward the use of autonomous vehicles.

New LNP STAT-KON WDF40RID and WDF40RI compounds address a key challenge of mmWave radar – its increased noise-to-signal ratio. To minimize noise that interferes with the transmission of the main radar signal, these compounds provide a high dissipation factor (Df) for efficient absorption. Compared to other semi-crystalline glass filled materials, SABIC’s new glass fiber-reinforced grades deliver higher absorption and lower reflectivity. In addition, they offer ultra-high flow and very low warpage, empowering customers to create new designs for internal and external single-layer absorbers, or to optimize traditional metal-backed absorbers.

“Steady improvements in accuracy and reliability are helping ADAS technologies increase vehicle safety,” said Joshua Chiaw, Director, Business Management, LNP & NORYL, Specialties, SABIC. “To help accelerate ADAS improvements, SABIC continues to add new specialty materials with exceptional properties that have the potential to enhance the design and performance of ADAS sensors ecosystem including radar, LiDAR and camera components. Our new LNP STAT-KON compounds, well suited for radar absorbers, could help propel the shift to higher-frequency mmWave radar to enable better image resolution and greater range. These new solutions reflect our extensive experience with both ADAS and the mobility sector as a whole.”

Improved Radar Performance

The award-winning LNP STAT-KON WDF40RID compound exhibits high absorption (up to 75 percent at 77 GHz) and controlled reflection (as low as 25 percent at 77 GHz), which together can significantly reduce noise. This innovative product can surpass incumbent materials in higher absorption and lower reflection by as much as 10 percent on a flat design and can be further optimized with appropriate design shapes. LNP STAT-KON WDF40RID compound delivers consistent performance across mmWave frequencies used for ADAS radar (76-81 GHz band). By maximizing noise dissipation, the new compound can help minimize ghost images and sidelobe interference, resulting in greater ADAS radar resolution and accuracy.

The LNP STAT-KON WDF40RI compound is formulated for metal-backed radar absorbers. LNP STAT-KON WDF40RI compound can raise radio wave absorption to nearly 80 percent, while lowering reflection below 20 percent, and provide total shielding when working with metal backs. Both grades’ noise shielding performance is consistent across mmWave frequencies between 75 and 110GHz.

Exceptional Flow Properties Power New Designs

Incumbent radar absorber materials typically exhibit high viscosity and reduced flow stemming from the use of conductive additives. High viscosity limits ADAS manufacturers in designing thin-wall internal absorbers or large external absorbers that surround the radar sensor. The LNP STAT-KON WDF40RID compound has an improved flow rate enabling very thin walls (down to 1mm) for interior radar absorbers that can reduce side lobe noise and free up space for additional electronics. From a processing standpoint, high flow can sharply reduce scrap from short shots and increase yield. The new compound also delivers excellent dimensional stability at long flow lengths (up to 20cm). Its low warpage supports the design of large, curved, exterior absorbers to reduce noise from adjacent metal parts.

“Our development team applied their ingenuity and deep technical knowledge to balance conductivity and flow properties in our new LNP STAT-KON compounds, while ensuring exceptional noise diffusion performance,” said Jenny Wang, Director, Formulation & Application, APAC, Specialties, SABIC. “These new products have addressed key drawbacks of currently available materials, opening the door to new internal and external absorber designs and improved processability. Adoption of these new compounds can help the industry advance the state of the art in ADAS radar.”

Broad Portfolio to Help Advance ADAS

SABIC offers a growing array of high-performance materials that may be used in radar, LiDAR and camera components. These materials include ULTEM^™, NORYL^™ and EXTEM^™ resins and LNP^™ FARADEX^™, LNP^™ KONDUIT^™ and LNP^™ THERMOCOMP^™ compounds. In addition to radar absorbers, SABIC’s specialty products have been used for covers and housings, lenses and lens assemblies, infrared (IR)-transparent radomes, electromagnetic shielding plates and brackets.

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