Solvay Engineered Polymers has added a new material to its Sequel 1800 range of thermoplastic polymers.
Headquartered in Mansfield, Texas, Solvay has developed a product with a coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CLTE) of 3.5 x 10^-5 mm/mm/ºC, which has the distinction of being the lowest in the company’s product range.
“Several carmakers have expressed a desire for a thermoplastic material with excellent stiffness and the dimensional stability of aluminium, which has a CLTE of approximately 2.0 x 10^-5 mm/mm/ºC,” said Craig Abernethy, an OEM marketing manager at Solvay.
The company claims the new Sequel 1828 material is at least 10% more resistant to changing dimensions with varying temperature than any product in the company’s portfolio.
Abernethy said the material can compete with 30% glass-filled polyurethane. “It may even merit consideration against glass-filled nylon in some applications,” he added.
The material also exhibits less anisotropy than glass-filled materials, which, according to Abernethy, means its shrink and CLTE performance are not so dependent on directional orientation.
Solvay also said the new material, which has a melt flow rate of 12, has processing advantages over glass-filled materials. In injection moulding, for example, the glass-filled materials degrade the moulds over time and material-handling equipment. This, the company claims, leads to higher maintenance costs.
The company said its Sequel 1800 polymers are often used as replacements for engineering resins such as ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) or engineering alloys, such as polycarbonate/ASA or polycarbonate/polybutylene terephthalate.
A member of the Belgian Solvay Group, Solvay Engineered Polymers develops and manufactures engineered polyolefin compounds, thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs), and thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs).
