There is a new generation of Advanced Engineering Plastic Products (AEPP) that is going to rattle a few preconceptions and give thermoplastics the edge over metals and ordinary thermoplastics for more extreme applications.
These will suit situations requiring continuously high temperature tolerances, sometimes exceeding 300 deg C in air (500 deg C for short times) and up to 140MPA tensile strength. |
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Existing applications are electrical connectors, rotary compressor vanes, can mandrels, breaker welding supports, computer chip nests, scraper blades in heat exchangers, pump wear rings, solvent extractor conveyor bushings and insulating printer bearings. Also structural, friction and wear applications spanning industries from automotive, electronics, food and pharmaceuticals through to construction and cranage, materials handling, mineral processing, water treatment and aggressive chemical environments in primary processing. |
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Advantages of AEPP’s include:
- Retention of mechanical and fatigue properties at elevated temperatures;
- Resistance to high energy radiation;
- Maximum thermal operating temperatures surpassing those of PTFE plastics;
- As well as improved chemical resistance and increased dielectric properties.
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Peak of the Pyramid of Performance
On the pyramid of performance, AEPPs sit right at the peak, directly above the more common Engineering Plastics category, which in turn ranks above the common garden Commodity Plastics. |
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To give you an idea of the sort of performance we are talking about, let’s look at Celazole PBI - one of the highest performance engineering thermoplastics available today, with extremely high maximum allowable service temperature in air of 310 deg C continuously, going up to 500 deg C for short periods (3-4 hours).
Celazole also offers improved wear performance and longer life in sensitive applications, such as light bulb contact parts and providing an extra margin of safety in electrical connectors used by aircraft engine manufacturers. |
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PSU 1000 Polysulphone, PPSU 1000 Polyphenylsulphone and PEI 1000 Polyetherimide.
These unreinforced materials offer a combination of excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, as well as excellent hydrolysis resistance and physiological inertness. (properties making them suitable for repeated steam sterilisation and food contact respectively).
So good is their performance that they are used in medical equipment such as endoscopic probe positioning ferrules and sighting arms used to position screws to realign broken bones.
Ketron PEEK has a unique combination of high mechanical performance, temperature resistance and chemical resistance. It is probably the most popular AEPP.
PVDF fluoropolymers exhibit excellent mechanical properties combined with superb chemical resistance. These qualities have seen the material used in applications varying as widely as pH-meter housings in harsh industrial applications.
Techtron HPV PPS is designed to close the gap both in performance and price between standard engineering thermoplastic materials and AEPPs. |
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