Extrusion

Many grades of our Hytrel® thermoplastic elastomer, Zytel® nylon, Delrin® acetal, and Crastin® PBT polyester are suitable for extrusion processes. Referring to the product literature and data sheets should help make selection of the most appropriate grade for a particular application, in terms of properties and serviceability. And, as always, we want to hear from you. Contact us for access to our technical team.

Click here to find out about DuPont Performance Polymers for High Performance Extrusion Solutions.

For more information, download our brochure Typical Processing Conditions for DuPont Engineering Plastics.

Profiles
DuPont offers a number of Zytel® nylon and Crastin® PBT grades for profile extrusion:

• Unreinforced, high viscosity.
• Toughened/super-tough.
• Glass reinforced.
• Mineral reinforced.

Major applications include thermal break profiles for aluminum framed window constructions.

Aluminum window frame with thermal break profile of Zytel®.

Some softer grades of Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer are also suitable for profile extrusion. Examples include "V-belts" and "T-belts" for conveying applications.

“V-belts and T-belts” of Hytrel® for conveying applications

Some products have been tailored to specific applications. For example, low melting point Hytrel® grades (eg. 4056 and HTR6108) for co-extrusion with PVC.

Co-extruded Hytrel®-PVC hinge

Stock shapes (rods, plates and tubes)

Recognized for their ease of machining and excellent balance of end-use properties, DuPont™ Delrin® acetal resin and Zytel® nylon are well established as industry standards for the production of stock shapes.

Stock shapes (rods, plates and tubes) of Delrin® and Zytel®

In addition to improved productivity versions of these traditional materials, DuPont now offers Crystar®PET, Crastin® PBT, and Hytrel® TPC-ET resins for manufacture of stock shapes.

A major research program has recently resulted in the introduction of a broad portfolio of Delrin® acetal resins with significantly improved low friction/low wear properties based on a number of technologies including:

• Chemical lubricants.
• Silicon oil.
• Teflon® PTFE.
• Kevlar® aramid.

Vespel® parts

DuPont also offers a wide range of ultra-high performance stock shapes based on Vespel® polyimide composite technologies. These are easy to machine into complex shapes with tight tolerances.

These components find many uses in the automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment and semiconductor industries in applications with extremes of temperature and/or wear.

Hose, tubing and pipes

DuPont Performance Polymers, in particular Zytel® nylon and Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer, find widespread use in hose, tubing and pipe applications. These materials are also used in co-extrusions and constructions with other materials such as:

• Teflon® PTFE and FEP fluoropolymers.
• Tefzel® ETFE fluoropolymer.
• Elastomers.
• Kevlar® aramid fiber or other reinforcements.
• Other polymers (PE, PVC, ABS, etc.).

Based on its excellent balance of end-use properties, and processing advantages versus thermoset rubber Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer is widely used to produce the liners and covers of high pressure hoses for hydraulic, water, hydro-cleaning and paint spray applications. Various grades of Zytel® nylon and Zytel® FN flexible nylon alloy are also used for a variety of hose applications including automotive air-conditioning hose. Hytrel® is also used in truck air-brake tube as a cost effective alternative to PA11 or PA12, and has recently received ISO compliance for use in this application.

High pressure hoses of Hytrel®

Truck air brake tubes of Hytrel®

Tefzel® ETFE, Zytel® nylon and co-extrusions of these materials are being increasingly adopted for automotive fuel lines, as manufacturers upgrade their designs to meet the increasingly severe emissions standards.

Co-extruded Tefzel®-nylon automotive fuel line

Recent developments include the use of a co-extruded Zytel® nylon barrier layer to improve the performance of PE pipes.

Co-extruded barrier of Zytel® inside PE pipe

Hose mandrels

In addition, a number of Zytel® nylon and Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer grades are well suited to the production of hose mandrels, used in the manufacture of rubber hoses.

Hose mandrels made from Engineering Polymers can offer a number of benefits over thermoset rubber and other thermoplastics including flexibility and good dimensional stability (without machining) even after many re-uses.

As a result, hose mandrels of Hytrel® or Zyel® are increasingly preferred, especially for hose applications requiring tight tolerances.

Filaments

DuPont offers one of the broadest ranges of Engineering Polymers for filaments including:

• Zytel® PA66, PA6, PA612 resins
• Crastin® PBT resins
• Hytrel® TPC-ET resins
• Teflon® PTFE and FEP resins
• Tefzel® ETFE resins
• Tynex® Filaments
• Chinex® Filaments
• Orel® Filaments

Major consumer applications include toothbrushes, paint brushes, and cosmetic brushes.

Brushes (toothbrush, paintbrush, abrasive, cosmetic) of Zytel®, Tynex® and Chinex®

Other well known uses for filaments made from Performance Polymers include hook and loop fasteners (eg. Velcro) and dental floss.

Monofilament of Zytel® for hook and loop fasteners

Typical industrial applications include the paper industry, where Zytel® nylon and Crastin® PET have been tailored to meet the specific demands of paper machinery belting in each of the key manufacturing steps:

• Forming
• Pressing
• Drying

Paper machinery belting (forming/pressing/drying) of Zytel® and Crastin®

Many innovations are currently taking place in filaments design. These include:

• Shaped filaments for improved toothbrushes.
• Hollow filaments for improved paint brushes.
• New "active" seating fabrics based on recent innovations include the development of flexible filament systems of Hytrel®, and patented co-extruded filament technology.

High-tech chair fabrics of Hytrel®

Wire and cable

Are you looking for better alternatives for your high-performance cables?

With the right selection, DuPont™ Performance Polymers can provide superior performance at a lower cost versus competitive materials. For example, wire insulation or jacketing made with our polymers may require less material due to their thinner walls. As a consequence, the cables may become less expensive per length of wire, while delivering superior physical properties, such as improved flexibility at low temperatures, easier routing through tight spaces, improved flex fatigue performance, and good abrasion resistance. Moreover, our polymers are plasticizer-, lead-, and halogen-free, making them RoHS compliant. Click here to download our brochure on Engineering Polymer Wire and Cable Solutions.

DuPont Performance Polymers offers a number of specialty materials for the wire and cable industry:

• Zytel® PA66, PA6, PA612 resins.
• Crastin® PBT resins.
• Hytrel® TPC-ET resins.

Conveyor belt cable encapsulated in Hytrel®

These products have been tailored to specific end-use requirements where commodity polymers such as PVC or PE do not perform satisfactorily.

Important applications include hydrolysis resistant Crastin® PBT for loose tube fiber optic cable constructions.

Loose tube fiber optic cable of Crastin® PBT

Combinations of Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomer and Zytel® nylon are also used to protect deep sea fiber optic cables such as the recent Fiber-optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) which runs for over 15000 km from the UK to Japan.

FLAG fiber optic cable using Hytrel® and Zytel®

Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomers are also widely used in retractable cable applications due to the superior elastic memory of Hytrel®.

Retractable coiled truck cable of Hytrel®

Latest materials developments include Hytrel® HTR8303, a high performance TPC-ET designed to meet the extreme heat ageing and hydrolysis resistance demands of automotive industry Class-4 specifications for high temperature (engine bay) wiring.

High temperature automotive wiring with sheath of Hytrel®

In addition to its Engineering Polymers, DuPont offers a large portfolio of other materials and technologies for the wire and cable industry including:

Fluoropolymers:

• Teflon® PTFE, FEP and PFA resins.
• Tefzel® ETFE resins.

Elvaloy® NH technologies:
Elvaloy® NH ("Non-Halogen") is a family of 4 new technologies which enable flexible alloys of different polymers to be produced which contain no halogens, but compete with common halogen-containing plastics such as PVC.

Film, sheet and laminates

Almost all of the extrusion grades of DuPont Performance Polymers can be converted into film, sheet, or laminate form using conventional extrusion casting or coating processes.

Specific grades may also be blown into film.

Typical products manufactured by flat die extrusion processes include polymer belting, fabric and nonwoven laminates, and polymer films.

In addition, the low friction, low wear properties of extruded Delrin® and high molecular weight Zytel® sheet make them particularly suitable for shims and bearing surfaces.

Hytrel® has unique applications in sheet and film, due to its ease of processing, good surface finish and mechanical properties. Its exceptional flex life and impact strength, combined with the absence of plasticizers make it highly suitable for dynamic applications such as belting, conveyors and impact absorbing layers. Hytrel® films and sheets can be produced with thicknesses ranging from 15 microns (0,015 mm) to more than 3 mm.

In some cases, Hytrel® is also added to other film and sheet materials to improve impact strength and flexibility.

The possibility of reinforcement with fabrics, nonwovens, Kevlar® or steel and the suitability of many joining processes make DuPont Performance Polymers the first choice for many of the most demanding applications.