Bayfill NV is an innovative next step in sound-absorbing foams from Bayer, according to Adam Hall, Business Director of Bayer's Automotive Interiors Business Group. It's an adaptation of an existing material customized for automotive noise abatement applications. The formulation also provides for quick setting, which allows for precise coverage when, for instance, the bottom of a pillar must remain open for wiring or other uses. With competing technology, plates or similar devices must be used to block the flow of material to specific areas. Bayer and Orbseal spent a year developing Bayfill NV and expect to release it later in the year.
Baffles are preformed pieces inserted into cavities prior to the vehicle entering the paint shop.
Heat-reactive, the baffles expand and fill the cavity. Bayfill ST foams are designed mainly for structural applications to improve body stiffness. Shown here is an opened structural member into which the foam was injected. While work on Bayfill NV is pretty much complete, the two companies continue development of a different foam system, called Bayfill ST, which is to be used for structural applications while also providing NVH abatement. Bayer, he noted, has decades of experience in a range of similar polyurethane technologies, along with prototyping and physical testing capabilities.