Trends and developments in Automotive Glass Encapsulation with PUR materials

The encapsulation of automotive glassparts started mid '80. It was a step forward in an attempt to supply ready-to-mount glass parts to the automotive production lines. These encapsulated glassparts have a moulded gasket all-around the periphery. Encapsulation can be done with different materials. In this lecture we will focus on the use of polyurethane (PUR) - more specific aliphatic polyurethane - and make a comparison with other materials such as PVC, TPE and EPDM.

Since that time, encapsulation has really evolved from the original design function, towards a medium where more and more other elements can be integrated into the window. This can be combined with the fact that today large, complex and even laminated windows need to be encapsulated. Due to these functional integration opportunities the overall cost can be reduced combined with a much larger freedom of design and esthetics.