Teknor Apex’s Nylon Division, a global provider of engineering thermoplastics for the industrial, consumer products and transportation markets, has introduced new nylon 6 /12 compounds that are an effective alternative to nylon 12 for fuel-line components in automotive applications.
Teknor Apex’s Chemlon 800 Series injection molding compounds demonstrate shorter molding cycles and comparable chemical resistance, but with a somewhat greater gain in moisture, when compared to nylon 12. The Chemlon 813 CI and 830 GHI fiber-reinforced injection molding compounds exhibit low moisture absorption and good chemical resistance.
The Chemlon 830 GHI compound contains a loading of 30% glass fiber in order to increase the rigidity and strength of the material, which is required for automotive connectors and other such applications. The Chemlon 813 CI has a loading of 13% of carbon fiber that provides antistatic conductivity that is required in most fuel line components.
Automotive market manager, Jeff Schmidt stated that the Chemlon 800 Series materials can be processed at higher melt temperatures than those for nylon 12 materials. These materials demonstrate very high chemical resistance that is required for fuel handling applications. High levels of moisture pickup in certain nylon polymers lead to problems in the components maintaining their part dimensions. However, the new nylon 6 / 12 compounds gain comparatively less moisture.
Teknor Apex offers Chemlon nylon 6, 6 / 6, 6 / 10, and 6 / 12 compounds which are suitable as alternatives to nylon 12 material for automotive applications. The company has operations in UK, Singapore and the U.S. which will be able to address the demand for the new nylon 6 /12 material.
Source: http://www.teknorapex.com/