ENGINEERING PLASTICS | MATERIALS
Smart applications need smart materials
Producers of engineering plastics were out in full force at Fakuma 2017, offering new materials for electronic, optical and even water- contact applications. Peter Mapleston reports
Suppliers of engineering plastics are ramping up developments in materials that meet increasingly stringent customer and regulatory requirements. As usual, polyamide suppliers lead the field, with products aimed at automotive and electrical & electronics in particular, but also, increasingly, water management. There is news in thermoplastic polyesters too, not only for technical parts, but also for the increasingly pervasive coffee capsule. Fakuma 2017 was the forum for unveiling many of the new developments. As we enter the age of the “smart” home, many
materials suppliers are developing materials suitable for electrical and electronic connectors in appliances that will not only be left unattended for longer, but will have artificial intelligence that enables them to perform actions even without us having to tell them to do so remotely from our smartphones. Smart appliances themselves will decide when to turn on and off, based on information from the smart grid that will change the price of electricity according to the balance of supply and demand. Earlier this year,DSM announced new Akulon
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.
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“With specially developed Akulon SafeConnect PA66 grades, 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 said. Materials in the SafeConnect family achieve a UL 94 flammability rating of V-0 at a thickness of 0.4mm and pass the IEC 60695-2 Glow Wire Test (GWT) without igniting at 850°C. The products additionally have a Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) of up to 450V (IEC 60112). Tamim Sidiki, Global Marketing Director,
Electronics, said demand is rising not only for materials with improved performance as measured in IEC glow wire tests on end products (the glow-wire end product test or GWEPT) as well as on test plaques. He also highlights the importance of the CTI, which is more a measure of long-term performance. A material with a higher CTI results in increased
tracking resistance in the presence of moisture and particles, eliminating the need for a protective housing unit. A higher CTI also allows for mini- mised terminal spacing, permitting increased functionality in a smaller space. At Fakuma, Ascend Performance Materials launched Vydyne FR350J, a high performance unreinforced compound based on polyamide 66
November/December 2017 | INJECTION WORLD 35
Main image: Solvay’s Ixef 1524 RD 001 for EV recharge connectors
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