New Developments in High Performance Engineering Plastics

The 3rd International Conference for S & SE Asia on New Developments in High Performance Engineering Plastics is being held in Singapore, by the Chatsworth Group, with support from Plastics and Rubber Institute of Singapore, Plastics and Rubber Institute of Malaysia. Presentations topics for Day 1 include: OPTIM® in Glass filled PP and Nylons, Global Market & Technology Trends in Engineering Plastics, Consideration in Resin Selection, New Reinforcing Agent for Polyolefins, Enhancing Engineering Performance, Recent Trends in Conductive Thermoplastics: Carbon Nanotube and EMI Shielding Materials, Bio-Plastic based Engineering Compounds, Plastics for Electronics, Innovative High Temperature Polymer replacing Metal and Rubber Tubing, Boehmite as a Halogen Free Co-Flame Retardant for Engineering Plastics. Typical applications and terminology for conductive thermoplastics will be introduced, and conventional technologies for obtaining various classifications of conductive thermoplastics will be reviewed. The main focus will be on current high interest areas -carbon nanotube compounds and EMI shielding materials. Key property details and advantages will be highlighted with notable applications cited. Recent applications, material, regulatory and market trends for the five major engineering plastics: PC, POM, PA, mPPE and PBT will be highlighted. Polypropylene possesses excellent mechanical properties when it is oriented. For automotive engineering moulding applications, it is not possible to orient the polymer. An alternative is to reinforce PP with glass fibers, both short and long. PP being non polar does not have good interaction with glass fibers. OPTIM® provides the solution to compatibility of PP with glass fibers. Excellent mechanical properties are achievable bringing PP into engineering plastics range. OPTIM® also finds application in toughening of Nylons, Nylon alloys and their composites. Nylon show poor dimensional stability and is sensitive to moisture. OPTIM® with Nylon reduces the sensitivity to moisture and increases dimensional stability of the product. There are many factors to be considered when selecting polymer compounds for new applications yet when faced with time pressures and demanding project deadlines, decisions are often based on resin availability, similar applications or the sales pitch of a good salesman. Some of the factors to be considered when selecting compounds and use examples of specific applications to illustrate these points will be discussed. To respect the growing performance requirements of OEMs for halogen-free flame retardant solutions, Nabaltec presents a suitable co-flame retardant for high performance engineering plastics -Boehmite (an Aluminium Oxide Hydroxide) -an effective and economic solution for specific questions. The presentation will show that a combination of Boehmite with available metal phosphinate solutions will improve the flame retardancy performance while the mechanical behaviour can be kept at an acceptable level for glass fibre reinforced halogen free flame retarded engineering plastics. Generally, polyolefins have poorer strength than most engineering plastics and are thus restricted to less demanding applications. To improve performance, reinforcing additives and fillers, typically talc and glass fibres, are added to help bridge this gap. Milliken has introduced a reinforcement agent, Hyperform HPR803, that is able to enhance polyolefin performance, showing improved stiffness-impact balance, scratch resistance, heat resistance and lower density, making them more competitive for engineering applications. Compared to glass fibers, Hyperform HPR803 has better surface aesthetics & is easier to process, and has seen strong interests from automotive customers due to its light-weighting feature. Thermoplastic resins based on renewable resources are reviewed. Use of traditional polymer alloys and additives to design compounds for Engineering Applications are introduced. Reinforced, Conductive, Impact modified and Wear Resistant advanced compounds based on renewable resource plastic materials are compared to traditional thermoplastic based compounds. Arkema recently developedan innovative high temp resistance polyphthalamide (PPA)-based material flexible enough to replace metal or rubber tubing in demanding auto and industrial applications. This entirely new class of flexible PPA, marketed under the Rilsan® HT brand name, 70% of which comes from renewable non-food crop vegetable feedstock, has opened-up new design possibilities to replace the heavy and corrosion-prone metal tubing or bulky and chemical swelling-prone rubber tubing in application such as in exhaust gas recirculation, transmission oil cooling or air intake tubing etc. Rilsan® HT being lighter has also help fulfil many automotive OEM’s drive to reduce vehicle weight, leading to reduction in emissions and fuel consumption. Plastic Electronics has attracted significant attention due to their potential low cost and large area processability. This presentation will focus on the latest developments of polymeric semiconducting materials and engineering of processes for plastic electronics, in particular, organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) and plastic solar cells. Presentation topics for Day 2 include: Integration of Magnetics, Semiconductors and PCBs in one Component, The Use of High Heat Polyamides in Electrical and Electronic Applications, LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymers) - Ideal for Trends in the Electronics Industry, Challenging the mind set with Ticona's latest innovations in Acetal Copolymer Technology, Vehicle Electrification - How New Materials are needed for this Market Trend, High Performance Twin Screw Extruder ZSK Mc18 : The Benchmark for Maximum Throughput, Challenge and Opportunity in Auto Parts with Polyamide, New Polyamide based Solutions for Structural Parts and Blow Moulded Articles, Injection - The Future: An Overview of New Injection Moulding Technology . The continuous trend towards convergence and miniaturization is generating significant interest in new technologies for electronics. A paper details a packaging technology which allows three dimensional stacking of magnets and semiconductors through the integration of a semiconductor chip and a common mode filter into one thermoplastic package. For the first time ever, this filter is integrated directly into the thermoplastic part which is used as the substrate, filter and housing at the same time. Laser direct structuring in combination with Stanyl® ForTiiTM, an ultra high performance, entirely halogen-free high temperature thermoplastic, omits any wires for the realized coil, and also facilitates high flexibility in design and manufacturing, allowing ultra small footprints and the realization of components suitable for surface mount technology. Hybrid and pure electric vehicle market is expected to grow by 17% for the next 5 years and that by 2020 20% of all new cars will be electric vehicles.In this presentation, BASF will showcase products for the alternate energy vehicle market segment., including Ultramid®(Polyamide), Ultradur®(PBT) and Ultrason®(PES) which have varying properties like high strength, high temp resistance, hydrolysis resistance, bio-based, stronger impact strength and others, which can help towards making these vehicles perform more efficiently. Consumer electronic OEMs/ODMs need to eliminate hazardous chemicals, flame retardants and other materials from their products to comply with regulations, meet industry standards, and satisfy consumer demands for greener products. LCP polymers provide a combination of high stiffness, high temperature and high flow to meet the trend of parts miniaturization, while also meeting requirements for high precision molding. The presentation will highlight some key aspects of moulding LCP, including part and tool design and exciting moulded-in-color technology. Automotive industry has continuously demanded many requirements such as short development term, light weight, environment friendly solution and cost reduction. General approaches are no more able to meet such demand these days. In this session, Rhodia will present new materials and its own recent innovations which can bring real solutions to satisfy such requirements to not only car OEM, but also final user. Ticona has over 50 years experience as a manufacturer of engineering thermoplastic resins. This presentation will explore the characteristics and benefits of two of their latest innovative Hostaform POM product series which are challenging the mind set of the industry and which can be utilized in an array of applications in extremely harsh environments like automotive fuels, water & chemical industry-Hostaform High Strength series and 3rd generation High Impact & Extreme Toughness series of acetal copolymers. Since the 1950s, when the principle of the self cleaning intermeshing screws was realised with the first twin screw compounder ZSK by Werner & Pfleiderer (today Coperion GmbH), there was a steady evolution towards higher free volume and higher power of these machines. This evolution to the high torque compounders, not only delivers higher specific throughput rates at lower specific energy consumption, but also leads to a improved product quality. For all compounding tasks which are torque limited, like filling and reinforcing of engineering plastics, it is beneficial to use those high performance compounders. A presentation will look at new products and technologies aimed at reducing weight, emissions and costs including solutions like organic sheets in structural composite parts, high modulus materials for metal replacement, customized materials for foaming and new blow-moldable Polyamide grades to comply with latest fuel emission regulations. Lightweight construction means designing “at the edge”. Traditional design methodologies and conventional CAE tools are reaching their limits. New design and analysis software helps to push weight reduction to the next level. Lanxess’ presentation will consider various aspects of new injection moulding technology focusing on (i)Energy efficiency,(ii) 'Organomelt' (over molding of organic fabric sheet hybrid structures for weight savings and additional functionality); (iii) 'Sinkmelt' (Combination of Thermoplastic and PUR floating for high gloss and scratch resistant surface qualities); and(iv) 'Optimelt' (Production technologies for high gloss and optical parts).