Materials boost for ADAS radar
SABIC has developed two materials to boost the performance of millimetre wave advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and driverless car radar systems
The LNP STAT-KON compounds are well suited for ADAS radar absorbers and can help propel adoption of millimetre 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.
The LNP STAT-KON WDF40RID and WDF40RI glass fibre-reinforced 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.
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Compared to other semi-crystalline glass filled materials, the new grades deliver higher absorption and lower reflectivity. The high flow and low warpage allow designers to crease internal and external single-layer absorbers, or to optimize traditional metal-backed absorbers.
The 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 has 10% higher absorption and lower reflection on a flat design and can be further optimized with appropriate design shapes across the 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 and can increase 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.
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. The 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.”
“Steady improvements in accuracy and reliability are helping ADAS technologies increase vehicle safety,” said Joshua Chiaw, Director, Business Management, LNP & NORYL, Specialties at 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.”
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.
Details are on the SABIC Material Finder
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