feature | Engineering plastics
Top right: Diesel engine charge air cooler moulded in DuPont’s Zytel Plus
development of what it claims to be the first solar panel with integrated thermal boiler. The company is using the high performance Radel PPSU polymer, which provides very good thermal and hydrolytic stability, in place of stainless steel in this application. Powered by a photovoltaic solar cell, the pressurised
Right Radel PPSU from Solvay Specialty Polymers replaces
stainless steel in this solar
energy system
system is intended for residential use and utlises solar energy to produce hot water. Measuring 2,029mm by 1,020mm by 240mm, the complete system weighs in at 80kg and is required to withstand pressures up to 6 bar and chlorinated water at up to 95°C. It consists of two extruded profiles onto which are welded injection moulded end caps. Each system holds 150 litres of water. According to Soterna, the
Below:
Agricultural machinery gear components made in Victrex PEEK resin
integrated thermal system cuts installation time by 50% and reduces cost due to the elimination of pipework from the boiler to the panel. It also requires no maintenance. The company currently has a number of systems undergo- ing testing in the European market. Solvay’s Radel is also being used by US-based LinkTech Quick Couplings to produce a new line of quick connectors for use in surgical sterilisation units. The company selected the polymer over acetal for its improved service life and reduced coupling maintenance require- ment – it had been found that sterilising solution trapped in the O-ring seals on the original connector could result in chemical damage to the acetal polymer in its previous designs. The coupling is an external component used to
quickly connect and disconnect the hose that transports sterilising solution from the reservoir to the sterilising machine. The new design consists of a body, internal valve and end termination which are injection moulded in Radel and then automatically assembled and ultrasonic welded. “We chose Radel PPSU as our primary material for these new couplings because of its superior strength, high thermal capabilities, chemical resistance, and ability to be moulded with very
28 InJECTIOn WORLD | April 2012
low draft angles for cylindrical sealing surfaces without parting lines,” says Dodge Juhan, engineering manager for LinkTech . The improved processing capabilities of the Radel
polymer allowed the LinkTech engineering team to redesign the connectors to achieve a parting line-free sealing surface with almost no draft, allowing the O- ring seal to be placed in the socket. This improves sealing performance, it says. In the automotive sector, Ticona’s engineering plastics are being used by gear systems manufacturer Hi-Lex America in a gearbox mechanism for use on powered heavy tail gate systems. The company’s two-stage reduction gear system uses precision steel ball bearings
mounted on polymer shafts with accom- panying 2.5-inch (62mm) diameter plastic
gears. Hi-Lex worked closely with Ticona to define, analyse and optimise the design to take advantage of plastic gearing, which can be significantly more
complex than metal alternatives and can pose challeng- ing implications for gear and drive designers. The team selected Ticona’s Celcon M90 unreinforced acetal copolymer for the first stage gear shaft, Celcon GC25T 25% glass coupled acetal for the second stage output gear and Celstran PA66-GF50-02 50% long glass fibre reinforced polyamide for the second stage output shaft. Aside from reducing the weight and cost of the
reduction gear system, the polymer solution also cuts noise. “The gears are nice and quiet. In fact, they get even quieter at elevated temperature, exactly like they were designed to do,” says Hi-Lex Automotive technical engineer Fred Eberle. Meanwhile, Tata Toyo is using DuPont’s Zytel Plus
polyamide for the hot and cold side charge air coolers used on four vehicles by one of India’s major automotive manufacturers. Charge air coolers cool the hot air generated by the
turbocharger before it is re-introduced into the diesel engine induction system to improve combustion efficiency. Pune, India-based Tata Toyo selected the Zytel Plus for the durability improvement it offered over the specialty polyamide grade it had been using previously. The polymer is said to provide good long
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