A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected]

PolymaxTPE, a manufacturer of thermoplastic elastomers, has introduced two Styrenic TPE grades the company said are engineered to deliver low compression set performance for gasket and seal application.

The company said the new grades, P32-010 and P32-011, can replace TPV elastomers in a variety of sealing applications that include gaskets, seals, valves, home appliance and food packaging requiring high resilience for seal integrity.

According to PolymaxTPE, the product offers low compression set at elevated temperatures, as the material resists permanent deformation under a given deflection and temperature range. PolymaxTPE claims that measurements show the compression set of the 60 shore A P32-011 TPE has 16 percent at RT, 26 percent at 70°C and 38 percent at 100 °C for 22 hours; and the 40 shore A P31-010 has 20 percent compression set at RT, 27 percent at 70°C and 48 percent at 100 °C.

The company said the product has excellent tear strength, cold temperature flexibility, low odor, stability at high temperature and weather resistance. The raw materials used to manufacture these two grades are compliant with food contact regulations, PolymaxTPE said, and the material can be used in stand-alone injection molding, extrusion applications, or bonded with polypropylene substrates.

For more information, go to polymaxtpe.com.

Guyson has unveiled a rotary indexing spindle system designed to accommodate specific shot peening specs.

Model RXS-400 is equipped with a model 75-12 cyclone reclaimer classifier for size control, a spiral separator for shot shape control and D-2000 dust collector, according to Guyson.

The company said the shot peening requires precision Almen test strip fixtures to ensure accuracy on the final part. Many parts such as gears, turbine blades and engine casings require test strips to be located at obscure angles to provide accurate results, the company claimed, and a higher level of accuracy can be achieved for Almen test strip placement by using a 3D printed alignment structure during the fabrication process.

Guyson said Almen test strip mounting plates are placed strategically within a 3D CAD model to locate the areas of the part requiring specific peening intensities. Once the locations are set, a structure is designed to hold each test strip mounting plate during the welding process, the company said. The structure is then 3D printed in thermoplastic using a FDM process, and the 3D printed structure is sent to the weld shop to be used as a fabrication jig, Guyson said.

According to the company, the welder can quickly and accurately place and tack weld each test strip mounting plate without deforming the thermoplastic. Once all positions are set, stronger welds are added, and the thermoplastic structure melts and is removed. The finished fixture can be used to mount Almen test strips for accurate testing of saturation, peening intensity and gun alignment, the company claimed.

Guyson said durable molded blast resistant materials are utilized to define these zones accurately, and the areas and surfaces needing protection are identified within a 3D CAD model of the part. Molds can be made of fiberglass, silicone, or urethane depending on size, shap, and final mask material, Guyson said.

For more information, go to www.guyson.com.

SiVance L.L.C., a subsidiary of Milliken & Co., has introduced SiVance C2010 resin, a reactive silicone technology designed to create highly durable epoxy-silicone hybrid coating formulations.

SiVance said the high-performance material helps extend the flexibility and impact resistance of protective coatings used in harsh operating environments such as undersea drilling, hydraulic fracturing and chemical manufacturing. Compared to coatings made with competitive products, hybrid formulations featuring SiVance C2010 resin help customers avoid the cracking, delamination and blistering that lead to corrosion and failure of metal pipes, tanks and equipment, the company claimed.

Due to their brittle structure caused by a high crosslink density, epoxies are susceptible to cracking and delamination when exposed to heat, chemicals and hot water, the company said. Replacing a portion of an epoxy coating system with SiVance C2010 silicone resin creates a hybrid that can absorb stress better from reverse impact and thermal shock, the company said.

To facilitate formulation of these hybrids, SiVance C2010 resin uses a proprietary structure that makes it compatible with aliphatic epoxies and aromatic epoxies such as bisphenol-A, bisphenol-F and phenol novolacs, SiVance claimed.

Coatings formulated with an epoxy-silicone hybrid offer increased durability in highly demanding applications, such as immersion coatings, tank linings, thermal insulation and subsea coatings, the company said. Undersea drilling operations, for example, subject coatings to higher temperatures and pressures, SiVance said, and lab tests under these conditions showed that a bisphenol-A epoxy-silicone hybrid formulation made with SiVance C2010 resin surpassed a bisphenol-A epoxy formulation in flexibility (conical mandrel bend test and a three-point bend test) and reverse impact performance (ASTM D2794), with only a minor decrease in other critical properties, including hardness and glass transition temperature, with little to no impact on adhesion.

Go to www.millikenchemical.com or www.millikenchemical.com/sivance for more information.