New Plastics Feature Performance

Creativity continues to flow from the major producers of engineering thermoplastics despite oil-related economics problems afflicting the industry in the last two years. Two notable new resins have debuted recently, while new applications developments focus on the ability to convert designs that benefit from the advantages of injection molding.

Resins Go With the Flow

New high-flow resins from GE Plastics allow molders to shoot parts at lower injection pressures, permitting larger and thinner parts with greater detail. There is no sacrifice in performance, according to GE Plastics. The new Super High Flow resins are part of the Valox family of glass- and mineral-filled polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) materials. The new materials fit into a drive by auto producers to design products that reduce fuel consumption. At the same time,  part complexity is on the rise, creating increasingly difficult molding conditions. Without enhanced viscosity, the result can be short shots and rejects, even with high-performance molding machines. GE says its new material is aimed at power distribution boxes, high pin density connectors, and HVAC vanes. For more information on high-flow thermoplastics, visit www.geplastics.com.

New Design is a Snap

A switch to thermoplastics allows integrally molded features that simplify assembly in fluorescent lamp holders made by Leviton Manufacturing Co., a 100-year-old producer of electrical and electronic components based in Little Neck, N.Y. “In redesigning thermoset urea parts to use Crastin, we were able to meet high quality and reliability goals while meeting customer expectations for high-performance materials,” said Scott Mast, engineering manager at Leviton’s plant in West Jefferson, N.C. Crastin is a PBT resin from DuPont that features toughness, resilience and high flow. The new design incorporates integral features for snap-fit assembly and lamp locking, thus eliminating metal fasteners and simplifying assembly.  The thermoplastic  also eliminates runner scrap and deflashing operations routinely required for urea parts.  More information is available at http://plastics.dupont.com/myplastics.

Polymer Hits New PEEK

There’s a new polyetherether ketone (PEEK) in the battle to create strong, lightweight options to metals and ceramics in demanding applications in aerospace, healthcare and automotive. It’s a called KetaSpire from Solvay Advanced Polymers. It’s described as the thermoplastic with “the industry’s best balance of thermal, mechanical and chemical-resistant performance”. Semi-commercial quantities are available now. Full commercial production quantities of 500 metric tons will be available from a new plant in Panoli, India that is due to come on stream early next year. The new polymer is part of Solvay Advanced Polymers new SolvaSpire family of ultra-performance plastics. For more information, go to http://solvayadvancedpolymers.com.

KetaSpire Key Data Points

S ource: Solvay Advanced Polymers