Thermoplastic elastomers | materials
TPE makers are producing more targeted grades with injection moulded applications fi rmly in their sights. Peter Mapleston explores the latest innovations
TPE makers offer more choice
The breadth and depth of supply in thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) for injection moulding applications continues to grow, even as the market shows signs of maturing. And as has been seen in other sectors of the plastics supply chain, TPE suppliers are now frequently homing in on applications with new purpose-developed grades. This presents specifi ers with a wider choice than ever. According to Patrick Ellis, author of the The Future of Thermoplastic Elastomers to 2020 (a report pub- lished by Smithers Rapra), global consumption of TPEs for all applications grew from 3.74m tonnes/yr in 2013 to almost 4.2m tonnes last year. The market is divided between commodity and high performance TPEs, with commodities taking just over three-quarters of the pie. “It is believed that injection moulding occupies at least 85% of the TPE conversion systems,” Ellis says. Average growth rates are now settling down and,
with exceptions in some markets, are nowhere near as high as they were ten years ago. Ellis says he expects to see growth through to 2020 to average 5.5%/yr. “This is a sign that TPEs are beginning to become a mature market as their acceptance increases globally,” he says. Transportation, building and construction markets
represent more than half of global TPE consumption. The global recession strongly affected building and construc- tion but, within transportation, the automotive sector has made a strong recovery and can be viewed as the driving force behind injection moulded demand today. “In 2015,
www.injectionworld.com
automotive applications occupied about 42% of the overall market,” Ellis says. “This market is growing at an above-average rate, due to the increasing demands for motor vehicles and in particular passenger vehicles.” Among the commodities for automotive applications, Ellis sees polyolefi n-based TPEs (or TPOs) steadily increasing their market share, while styrenic TPEs, or TPSs (SEBS, SBS) are beginning to lose ground. He also sees increased sales of reactor TPOs and post-reactor compounding being increasingly carried out on a large scale by multinational polyolefi n polymer producers. “Smaller independent compounders just cannot compete in this arena,” he says. In many cases it is EPDM/PP based TPOs that are being replaced by the reactor TPOs. Higher performance TPEs are gaining market share
over commodities in the automotive sector. Copolyester TPEs – TPCs – are showing the highest growth rate, even at higher cost, due to superior performance where there is a combined demand for both heat and chemical resistance, Ellis notes. But several other TPE types are challenging TPCs. These are mostly based on com- pounds of polyamide 6 with various high performance elastomers, which are usually partially vulcanised.
Growth all around Demand is growing on both sides of the TPE market, according to independent TPE compounding group Hexpol TPE. “On the one hand we have several mature markets for TPE; here the key drivers can be seen as a
May 2016 | INJECTION WORLD 35 Main image:
Automotive is the largest
single market for TPEs. PolyOne’s
OnFlex LO TPEs are low volatile grades pitched at interior
applications
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68