material design technology

Differentiation Through Group Strength: Acrylic Polymers as Core Materials

NOK's seal products — including its flagship oil seals — primarily use synthetic rubber, which is a common material in automotive components because of its essential oil and heat resistance. The main element of acrylic rubber is acrylic polymer, which is essential to determining the performance of oil seals and other similar products. Unimatec, a member of the NOK Group based in Minato, Tokyo (led by President Hiroaki Kikuchi), specializes in developing and producing acrylic polymers. As the automotive industry's business environment evolves, Unimatec leverages the Group's strengths to meet diverse needs.

Providing Solutions That Meet Needs Quickly: Leveraging Statistical Methods for Material Formulation

Over the years, NOK has accumulated approximately 88,000 rubber material formulation recipes developed in response to changing needs and demands. Currently, the company leverages this vast dataset of recipes to optimize new material formulations through statistical methods. This approach shortens development time and serves as a powerful tool to quickly respond to needs even amidst rapid environmental changes, such as improving vehicle fuel efficiency and adapting to electrification.

Applying Seal Technology to Meet Needs: Supporting Automobiles with NOK

Japan's first oil seal manufacturer, NOK provides high-performance, high-quality products to a wide range of industries, including automotive, construction machinery, agricultural machinery and electronics. Oil seals are used in engines, gears and other components that perform repetitive rotational or reciprocating motions. Their role is to prevent oil, liquids and gases from leaking while ensuring smooth rotational and reciprocating movement. Since decarbonization has become a critical theme for the automotive industry and other sectors, oil seals are also required to achieve higher performance than ever before. Leveraging its long-standing technical expertise, NOK is advancing research and development to ensure every oil seal has optimal functionality.

Using Trial and Error to Find the Perfect Blend: Oil Seals and Material Design Technology

Oil seals are one of NOK's core products. Of NOK's consolidated sales of 682.5 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 2022, the sealing business — including oil seals — accounted for approximately 336.2 billion yen, or nearly 50%. NOK produces 60,000 types of oil seals globally, manufacturing 1.83 billion units annually. Despite their seemingly simple ring-like design, oil seals combine rubber material, metal rings, and springs to prevent oil and water leakage, achieve low friction, and ensure durability. They are essential mechanical products for all types of machinery, and one of the supporting technologies is material design.