Nylon, one of the most widely used engineering thermoplastics, is an extremely versatile engineering plastic. An excellent combination of mechanical performance (toughness, low coefficient of friction, and good abrasion resistance) and cost make Nylon an ideal replacement for a wide variety of materials from metal to rubber.
Cast Nylon 6 (polycaprolactam) exhibits all the properties that generally make nylon a superior engineering material: high strength, low friction and wear resistance. Because of the casting process, part size and thickness are almost unlimited without degradation of the material's internal structure. Cast Nylon 6 provides one of the largest array of sizes and custom shapes of any thermoplastic.
By varying the conditions through the addition of various additives, fillers, lubricants and colorants during polymerization, the mechanical properties of cast nylon may be altered to suit specific applications. Formulations include molybdenum-disulfidefilled, moly and oil filled, and glass-filled grades. Variants within these nylon grades are available to match specific application demands such as FDA compliance, Internally lubricated, heat stabilized (blue), or impact modified.
Oil Filled: A special formulation of liquid lubricant encapsulated during manufacture provides for true lubrication at the bearing surface. This is a cast nylon with built-in oil lubrication. During the manufacturing process, oil lubrication is completely and evenly dispersed throughout the cast nylon, making it an integral part of the material's structure that cannot spin out, dry out, or drain out, even under the harshest working conditions. This oil-filler reduces friction by as much as 25% at the bearing interface, and can result in longer wear life than unfilled or moly-filled cast nylons. The standard grade is green in color, but a natural (off-white) colored FDA & USDA approved grade is also available.
Contact an Emco Industrial Plastics representative who can help you choose the correct material to meet the needs of your application.