Trilon excels in Rail applications and gives flame resistance

I recently received a call on Trilon AR, one of our newer materials.  Trilon AR is a modified UHMW compound available in rod or sheet form. It is a good option for chain guides, gears, sprockets and bearings.  Trilon excels in mining, pulp and paper, and timber handling applications.

This question was recently posed to me at an industry conference.  Ertalyte TX is a unique product that offers excellent value, wear, and abrasion resistance, plus it provides high mechanical strength.  It works particularly well in food processing applications such as bakeries, and poultry and meat plants.  And it excels on film guide rollers in packaging machines.  Our clients also like it for wet applications like treatment plants.

High-performance materials are designed to operate at continuously high temperatures — 300-degrees and above; some can even exceed 800-degrees.  In order to be considered high performance, materials must also maintain their physical properties over a broad time and temperature spectrum without losing stability.

Imidized materials are at the top of the polymer heap! These are materials that can operate in the 600-800F range in air. Ironically, these same materials will fail rapidly in boiling water or steam, so as with all polymers, attention must be paid to the operating environment. Imidized materials include Vespel, Meldin, Torlon and Celazole.

Below that level are functional materials like Rulon and the fluoropolymers, followed by PEEK, Polyphenylene sulfides (PPS) , Ultem (PEI) and the sulfones.  All give excellent chemical resistance, physical strength and  varying degrees of wearability.

Of course high performance must be balanced with cost considerations — high performance means higher cost.  If we use Nylon as a baseline for $1, PBI polymers would be upwards of $200, which is typical for high-performance materials.

We can seek out your performance parameters to help you match the best material to your application – and your budget. 

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.

Torlon® is a high-strength plastic, and is among the most expensive on the market. Torlon can be injection molded, compression molded, and extruded, and is ideally suited for severe service environments. Applications include pump components, valve seats, bearings, rollers, high temperature insulators, electronic equipment, compressor components, and bearing cages.

Our team has seen a spike in interest in slipper seals.