Trelleborg Automotive, a leading provider of comfort solutions to the automotive industry, has announced the availability of its fibre-based, Creatube engine cooling hose, which offers a number of advantages over traditional, multi-layered hoses that incorporate a textile/knitted construction.
Thanks to a single-layer design that integrates fibre compound with rubber, the problem of yarn damages or delamination – both commonly associated with knitted hoses – are eliminated. As a result, overall performance and reliability is significantly increased. The results of stringent internal endurance testing saw Trelleborg’s Creatube continue to perform after 300,000km. This superior longevity performance meets the increasing requirements of carmakers for more durable products.
Creatube also offers global suitability, thanks to proven functionality under extreme climatic conditions, from -30ºC to 125ºC.
Additional benefi ts are afforded by Creatube’s efficiency-enhancing automatic manufacturing process, which reduces production time to around 40 minutes, compared to the two days demanded by more traditional, labour-intensive methods.
Creatube comprises a single-layer construction that integrates fibre compound directly into rubber material and employs a moving die process to shape the hose directly after extrusion. This differs from multi-layered traditional variants, which require straight hoses to be formed manually using a mandrel, before vulcanization in an autoclave. Creatube’s manufacturing process also avoids the need to ‘fl ush out’ hoses with release agent, eliminating potentially adverse health and environmental effects.
