MATERIALS | ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC


[and] also exhibits high ductility and elongation at break (15%), providing engineers with greater freedom when designing parts such as living hinges and snap fits.” The new compound is also claimed to have superior melt flow and requires lower pressure to fill moulds. It has a wide process- ing window and is colour stable for natural and colourable applications (see also Injection World Nov/Dec 2017).


Above: Domo is targeting switches with its latest glass reinforced PA compounds


opportunities in the post-industrial stage and possibly also in the post-consumer one – that is at the end of the product’s life cycle.” Hence the shift to ETPs. Lati cites Telergon, a leading Spanish company specialising in the manufacture of manual and motorised switches and changeover switches, which has chosen the compounder’s Later 4 G/30-VOHFl flame retardant PBT compound for its latest changeover switches and bypasses. “This choice has considerable strengths,” Lati


Right: Teler- gon’s switch in flame retardant PBT from Lati


says. “First, the base resin, unlike conventional polyamides, is completely non-hygroscopic, thus ensuring dimensional stability, strength and dielectric strength even in very humid environ- ments. The material also features high self-extin- guishing properties, UL-certified for low thickness- es without the use of halogen and red phosphorus as required by the most stringent market require- ments in terms of respect for the environment and human health.” The compound also has very good electrical performance, with tracking resistance greater than 600 V. Lati also offers halogen-


and red phosphorus-free self-extinguishing com- pounds based on polyamides. Its grades compete with those from several other European compounders specialising in this area, among them Nilit (now owned by Celanese) and Vamptech.


Unattended appliances Among major polymer makers, Ascend Perfor- mance Materials last year launched a high-perfor- mance unreinforced flame retardant PA66 com- pound that it says will bring extra safety to electrical connectors used in unattended home appliances. The supplier says Vydyne FR350J has “excellent electrical and flammability properties


30 INJECTION WORLD | March 2018


“Home appliances are getting smarter and demand for these so-called ‘smart’ products continues to grow. That means they will incorpo- rate more electronics and more connectors,” says Vikram Gopal, Ascend’s vice president of technol- ogy. “Vydyne FR350J will make sure that appli- ances are safe as well as smart.” DSM is competing hard in this market too. Last


year it announced new Akulon SafeConnect PA6 grades for electrical components that meet safety requirements from regulators and OEMs around the world. It says this means that OEMs no longer have to use different grades for the same part, depending on where the appliance is sold. “DSM now enables OEMs to meet the EN 60335-1 international standard on home appliance safety as well as their own internal requirements,” the company says (see also IW Nov/Dec 2017). Appliances is one of RadiciGroup’s target areas. Erico Spini, Marketing Manager, Europe, for Performance Plastics, cites grades of glass rein- forced PA66 with enhanced chemical resistance in the company’s Radiflam HF family of flame retard- ant products free of halogens and red phosphorus. Spini says the company’s already-expansive


range of polyamides – flame-retardant and non- flame-retardant – continues to grow as market demands change. He points to what he says is a clear trend among producers of medium-voltage electrical equipment away from thermosets in favour of high performance thermoplastics. “We also see big opportu- nities to substitute metals in products such as electronic housings, especially in the


transport sector,” he says. “We see


a lot of space for high performance polyamides. We already have suitable materials, but we are developing more.” Radici has in the past devel- oped materials with low extractables for housings to prevent damage to electronic circuitry. “We continue to work in this area, for applications in various industries,” he says.


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