FORMULATION | FRICTION AND WEAR
REACH regulation with the launch of its new RC PTFE micro-powder product line. “There is currently no globally accepted stan-
dard test method for measuring PFOA content in PTFE micro-powders, nor is there any indication as to how the regulation will be enforced,” says company vice president Joon Choo. “Shamrock has pro-actively adopted a method similar to 3M’s Standard Test Method (Edition 1.0, Nov 2016), based on extraction of PTFE powders with metha- nol and the use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to determine the concentra- tion of PFOA. Shamrock’s method has correlated well with test data from external test centres to validate accuracy and precision.
Compliance database “With a validated test method, Shamrock estab- lished a fully dedicated PFOA test centre with 2 LC-MS systems and started building the database of PFOA in its portfolio of PTFE-containing prod- ucts. With statistically significant lot-verified data, Shamrock mapped out pathways to ensuring that its product lines are fully regulatory-compliant (RC) to the level of <25 ppb, on an industrial scale, product by product, lot by lot.” PTFE micro-powder products based on con-
trolled degradation process may be made with virgin or post-industrial recycled based PTFE, Choo says. “In some applications, the recycled based PTFE micro-powder products out-perform virgin based products. Different degrees of degradation seem to work better in some specific applications. Combinations of raw material type and varying degrees of degradation result in different pathways to achieve the desired RC product with specific performance in a variety of resins.” Shamrock’s intention is to continue further
improvement approaching non-detectable limits, as well as potentially offering alternative PTFE-free polymers that may perform the same functions, Choo says.
Austrian company Tribotecc specialises in additives that improve the tribological properties of high performance polymers and promotes itself as the world leader in synthetic metal sulphides. “Synthetic sulphides can be tailor made to the application, they are cleaner, give more reproduc- ible results, and in many cases are more economi- cal than traditional solutions,” says Clemens Kappl, Head of Market & Technologies. “Synthetic sul- phides contribute to our customers developing novel polymer formulations successfully competing against established formulations, and also against parts made of metal.”
48 COMPOUNDING WORLD | February 2021
3D print route to ‘smart’ bearings
German polymer bearing technology firm Igus has combined its tribogically-modified polymer formulation expertise with 3D print and Industry 4.0 concepts to provide a fast turnaround custom system for production of ‘smart’ bearings that integrate real-time performance monitoring. Using a multi-material 3D print production
process, the company can produce custom bearings with integrated wear sensing by combining tribologially-optimised and electri- cally conductive compounds. The company says monitoring options are determined by the construction of the bearing. By sandwiching the conductive layer between the two wear layers, it says it can monitor the load on the bearing. By embedding a conduc- tive track into the wear layer, it can monitor wear of the load-bearing layer. According to Igus’s Head of Additive Produc-
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tion, Tom Krause, the new process represents a significant breakthrough in smart 3D printed bearing production. ““In this way, predictive maintenance is also possible for special parts in a cost-saving manner,” he says. The components are manufactured from the company’s Iglidur I150 or Iglidur I180 triboligi- cally-optimised 3D print filaments and a spe- cially developed electrically conductive 3D printing material. Igus claims a typical turna- round time of five working days. �
www.igus.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: IGUS
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