DuPont Engineering Polymers (Booth S2632) will combat wear and friction in plastic parts with new grades of nylon and acetal that will debut at NPE 2006.
Two new grades of Zytel HTN-brand high-performance nylon are intended for wear and friction parts that must withstand higher temperatures or more aggressive chemicals than standard nylons and acetals, officials said in a news release.
One new Zytel grade combines very low friction with good wear resistance and contains DuPont's Teflon-brand fluoropolymer in micropowder form. The second new Zytel offers exceptional abrasive wear resistance and is reinforced with DuPont's Kevlar-brand aramid fiber.
Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont makes Zytel at U.S. plants, in Tennessee and Virginia, and will open a third site to produce the material in Singapore in 2009.
The new grades of Delrin-brand acetal both contain Teflon micropowder. The first new grade combines outstanding impact strength and elongation with very low wear and friction. Officials described the other new grade as ``an economical material choice for parts requiring low wear, friction and squeak.''
The second new acetal grade also has stiffness, strength and toughness similar to standard medium-viscosity acetals. The Teflon micropowder content is part of an advanced lubricant package in the new material.
Officials said all four new materials were ``an extension of a strong offering of wear and friction solutions'' from DuPont.
DuPont's Performance Materials unit - including nylon and other specialty plastics - posted first-quarter sales of $1.7 billion in 2006, an increase of 6 percent from the year-ago period. However, the unit's first-quarter pretax income fell 35 percent to $137 million, largely because of higher raw material costs.
In the first quarter, Performance Materials generated 22 percent of sales and 10 percent of pretax profit for parent DuPont Co.