Tech Talk Blog

Tivar® HOT is a good alternative when standard UHMW is unable to withstand your operating temperature.  As the name implies, it is engineered to withstand high operating temperatures up to 220°F.  It is a diverse material that can be modified to fit a broad scope of applications.

Tivar HOT has near-zero water absorption, so it can be used in scalding and submerged applications.  It gives superior wear and chemical resistance, offers good impact strength, low friction, and is self-lubricating. It is also incredibly abrasion-resistant.

Tivar is a good solution for food processing and packaging equipment.  It meets FDA/USDA guidelines and is 3A Compliant.  We see it used in the production of sugar and candy.  Also many industrial applications such as pipe saddles, hopper liners, and conveyor guides.

It is available in sheet, rod or tube form, can be made to order, and is easily machined.  We can custom fabricate a part to match your print.

UHMW Polyethylene is an interesting material in the polymer world.  It’s one of the lowest cost plastics on the market yet it offers some properties that few other polymers do. UHMW is best known for it’s abrasive wear resistance and impact strength but even within this small polymer family there are variations. UHMW stands for ultra high molecular weight and under this description UHMW is produced with a molecular weight range of 3.5 to 6 million. The molecular weight has a fairly dramatic impact on several key properties. For instance, a 4 million molecular weight grade has an abrasion resistance of 100 when measured using a sand slurry test. A 6 million molecular weight is 75 which is a further 25% improvement! Compare this with steel which has a resistance of 160 and you can see why UHMW is the material of choice for abrasive wear environments.

There are several other variations on UHMW including cross linked, glass and moly enhanced and even a high temperature grade.

Check out our Materials Resources Guide to see the entire selection.