Lord expands MR fluid capacity

Cary, North Carolina--Lord Corp. will expand production of its full complement of proprietary magnetorheological fluids to meet growing demand.

Much of that demand has come from the automotive industry, where a controllable suspension system created by Delphi Automotive Systems and designed around MR fluid technology provided by Lord has been adopted by General Motors Corp., a Lord spokesman said.

Delphi's MagnaRide shock absorber system was introduced on the Cadillac Seville in 2002, according to Lord. General Motors now is offering the system on six new car models, including the new 2006 Buick Lucerne, the first non-luxury vehicle to use the suspension technology, the spokesman said.

"We have significantly increased capacity and are now prepared to ship MR fluid around the globe," according to Andy Kintz, materials technology manager for Lord´s materials business unit. "Delphi and General Motors are rolling out more platforms with the MagnaRide shock absorber and we're scaling up for that."

From Website