With liquid crystal polymers (LCPs), the medical device designer can improve part economics as well as performance and processing compared with metals and other plastic materials. LCPs eliminate...

There is an increase in Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics used in structural aerospace composites exposed to loads and/or load cycling for extended periods of time. These resins, which...

The demand for composite materials in aerospace is stronger than ever, due mainly to the savings in fuel cost for lightweight structures. The vast majority of composites used in aerospace are...

When it comes to using plastics in high-load applications, the appliance industry is beginning to follow the trend realized several years ago by automobile manufacturers. Carmakers today use plastics...

Thermoplastic composites offer substantial cost savings and improved performance as compared to thermoset parts. This paper will provide a description of properties of high temperature thermoplastic...

Injection molding is an excellent way to bring out the best in plastics. It is universally used to make complex, finished parts, often in a single step, economically, precisely and with little waste....

The processing considerations and potential applications for two different semicrystalline engineering polymers in extrusion are described. Specifically, they include Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) and...

Trends in interior automotive continue to include low gloss surfaces and special effect, accent colors. With many plastics, the ability to achieve the proper low gloss surface or special effects like...

Plastic gears are now being used in drives of higher power and higher precision than in the past. They afford appliance designers dramatic opportunities to reduce drive cost, noise and weight....

Without plastics, automakers would have been hard pressed to develop fuel systems that simultaneously withstand aggressive fuels, reduce vehicle weight, aid impact resistance, and enable complex...

Gas-assisted injection molding allows for the production of long rod-shaped parts with thick cross sections. On aesthetic parts a high-gloss level is a main requirement, like appliances. New plastic...

Plastic gears are growing larger, more precise, more complex in geometry and more powerful. High-performance resins and long-fiber compounds are aiding this evolution....

Engineering plastics have been used extensively in automobiles in a variety of applications such as grille opening retainers, bumpers and decorative panels. Recently, engineering plastics are also...

For the appliance engineer, plastic gears are a powerful means to cut cost, weight, noise and wear. They also open new opportunities for smaller, more efficient drives. What are the payoffs when using...

People usually associate color with physical objects that are viewed in sharp contrast to their surroundings: be it a beautiful flower arrangement, or a colorful spinnaker on a sailboat against a...

Over a quarter century ago, lasers were thought of as "tools of destruction." From cutting through steel to use as weapons, lasers were powerful devices and thought to only be used that way. Of course...

New technologies to bond materials that could not previously be joined together, to increase the strength of composite bonds and to develop nanocomposites are ushering in a new era of composite...

Many electrical, automotive, industrial and other applications call for costeffective materials with superior mechanical and electrical performance at elevated temperatures. During the past...

Gear design and development is a complicated art. Ignore or miscalculate the operating and environmental effects and the likely result is a gear set that doesn't mesh properly, which will cause...

Auto fuel systems, long challenging environments for engineering thermoplastics, became more so during the past decade as new fuels were introduced and fuel temperatures rose. The demands on plastics...

Polymer selection helps automotive fuel-system components survive for the life of the vehicle....

Linear Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) is used in production for a variety of automotive and industrial applications. It exhibits a combination of high temperature performance, creep resistance, excellent...

A novel preform is made with carbon/PPS unidirectional tape, which is slit and converted into a braid. This preform is being used in production for aircraft interior applications where flame smoke and...

A new linear polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) compound has been introduced to meet the expanding needs of businesses and individual consumers as they convert to rapid transmission fiberoptic technology...

The use of plastics in place of metals is helping many manufacturers maintain profit margins as costs and competition increase. These manufacturers are finding that the switch also improves products,...

Since antiquity, gears and gear systems have constantly been developed and improved. This continuing process includes the evolution of plastic gears, which started out as a curiosity 60 years ago and...

Classic fracture analysis of unfilled plastics has welldefined and well-documented methods for determining what happened to broken parts. However, introducing long-fibers into the picture obscures...

ULTRA HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT P O LYETHYLENE (UHMWPE) is a line a r, low-pre s s u re, Ziegler-type catalyst, polyethylene resin. Its weight-average molecular weight of 4 X 106 is appro x i m a t e l y...

Unfilled (neat) liquid crystal polymers (LCP) have excellent thermal and dimensional stability, as well as high rigidity, strength, and chemical resistance. LCP parts can be molded with great...

For mechanical engineers, plastic gears are a powerful means of cutting drive-cost, weight, noise and wear. Plastic gears also open new opportunities for smaller, more efficient transmissions in many...

Abstract With strong pressures to reduce carbon emissions and improve fuel economy for passenger vehicles and commercial trucks in most geographies, interest in composites by transportation OEMs is...

This article appeared in the May 11, 2006 issue of "Machine Design" magazine under the title, "No More 'Girlie Man' Gears: Advanced Polymers Let Designers Replace Metals in Large, Complex Gear Sets...

Many phosphorus containing additives and nitrogen synergists are available for use as ame retardant systems in engineering plastics, to develop halogen-free products for the electrical & electronics...

The recent push for environmentally friendly halogen-free products has resulted in signicant changes in polymer materials used in the consumer electronics industry. A series of halogen-free...

For many years high owing engineered resins, such as Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), have been used for very detailed and intricate parts in the electronics and connector industries where function and...

Celanese has developed a new family of impact modied polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers that demonstrate a combination of improved permeation resistance, cold temperature impact strength, and melt...

Designing components made from glass ber reinforced thermoplastics is not trivial since the bers are inclusions in the matrix material. Fibers are specically oriented in the mold lling phase...

The rapid growth and global demand for wireless communication and increasing need for more functionality in smart phones have created a need for advanced engineering resin to meet new antenna...

Automotive OEMs have increasingly become more interested in monitoring cabin air quality inside the vehicle. This leads to the need for further understanding and testing of emissions from the various...

Light-emitting diodes (LED), as a new light source, are being used more and more as display backlight and general lighting. Due to the increase of brightness and electrical current of LED packaging...

Polyoxymethylene (POM) or polyacetal is an engineering thermoplastic resin that has been used for the past 50 years, primarily in injection molded articles. POM's benefit is derived from its...

A new ow improvement technology (FIT) including reactive extrusion and Celanese proprietary compounding technology enables a high ow liquid crystal polymer (LCP) with lower warpage. LCP polymer...

Vandar® 2100 is an impact modied engineering thermoplastic resin developed to deliver consistent performance over a wide range of temperature and humidity conditions, primarily in injection...