When a worn wear strip, scraper, or guide rail breaks off inside a production line, the real risk isn't the part — it's what happens if a fragment makes it into the product stream undetected. TIVAR® VMX solves that problem at the material level, so any lost fragment can be caught before it ever leaves the plant.
TIVAR® VMX is a UHMW-PE compound engineered by Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials specifically for food, beverage, and pharmaceutical lines where contamination control is non-negotiable. Its distinctive bright blue color and embedded detection additive mean a broken-off fragment doesn't just disappear into the product — it gets found.
The signature bright blue color stands apart from virtually every food product and packaging component, so a dislodged fragment is easy for line operators and QA staff to spot on sight.
An embedded detectable additive allows standard in-line metal detectors — already installed on most food processing lines — to flag fragments without any additional equipment investment.
The same additive package renders fragments visible to X-ray inspection systems, catching pieces that might otherwise slip past a metal detector alone, down to roughly 2 mm in size.
Detectability doesn't come at the cost of toughness — TIVAR® VMX retains the wear resistance, low friction, and impact strength that make UHMW-PE the standard for high-wear food-contact parts, with performance that meets or exceeds standard TIVAR® 1000.
Some detectable compounds sacrifice wear life or toughness to get the additive package in. TIVAR® VMX is formulated to hold its own against standard TIVAR® 1000 — in several respects, it outperforms it.
Any wear point where a broken or worn fragment could enter the product stream is a candidate for TIVAR® VMX — particularly on lines already running metal or X-ray inspection.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Base resin | Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) |
| Color | Bright blue |
| Detection modes | Visual, metal detector, X-ray |
| Regulatory compliance | FDA 21 CFR § 177.1520, EU 10/2011 |
| Relative wear resistance | Meets/exceeds TIVAR® 1000 |
| Relative impact strength | Meets/exceeds TIVAR® 1000 |
| Moisture absorption | Very low, dimensionally stable in wet/wash-down environments |
| Machinability | Machines like standard UHMW-PE; existing tooling typically transfers |
| Available stock shapes | Sheet / Plate, Rod, Extruded Profile |
| Typical industries | Food processing, beverage, pharmaceutical, packaging |
Specifications summarized from Mitsubishi Chemical Group / Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials published product data. Always confirm current values against the manufacturer's datasheet and your application's design requirements before finalizing a spec.
Emco Industrial Plastics stocks and fabricates TIVAR® UHMW-PE grades to your print — sheet, rod, or finished parts. Talk to our team about detectable material for your next food or pharma-grade project.
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