PA material, Polyamide or commonly called nylon, is a semi crystalline thermoplastic with low density and high thermal stability. Nylon plastic is one of the most important construction plastics due to its excellent wear resistance, good coefficient of friction and very good temperature resistance and impact strength. Designations for Polyamide plastic, often occur in conjunction with numbers such as PA 6, PA 66, PA 12 and PA 46. These numbers refer to the molecular structure of the PA polymer. Each type of structure offers different properties. These polyamide properties vary from the hard and tough PA 6.6 to Polyamide type 6 to the soft and flexible polyamide 12 material. Depending on the type, the PA melting point is between 220 °C and 260 °C. The most commonly used nylon polymers are PA 6 and PA 66. The PA 6 plastic can be obtained either as extruded, injection molded or cast nylon.
Because the material nylon can be easily processed due to its property profile, numerous polyamide modifications exist. By adding additives such as glass fibres for glass filled nylon or carbon fibres for carbon filled nylon, the strength and stiffness in particular grade can be increased many times as required.
The material PA is also characterised by very good chemical resistance and is a particularly oil resistant plastic. Thanks to these excellent Polyamide plastic properties, especially the combination of high strength, toughness and low weight, PA plastic is ideally suited as a metal substitute. Automotive parts, industrial valves, insulation for railway sleepers and other technical applications are made from the polyamide polymer. For applications in the food industry, food grade nylon is used.
A typical nylon characteristic is to absorb water. Depending on the type, polyamide absorbs different amounts of moisture. Therefore, the design of such parts must take into account the water absorption of nylon, and the associated change in dimensions and mechanical properties.
Ensinger is a polyamide supplier of Pa plastic parts in a variety of shapes:
A distinction is made between semi-finished polyamide products produced by extrusion and those produced by casting. Extrusion is generally suitable for smaller parts with high production volumes, whereas the casting process is more suited to large parts with less internal stress and lower quantities. To improve certain properties, both extruded and cast nylons can be modified by the use of fillers.
Ensinger manufactures extruded polyamide under the brand name TECAMID and cast nylon under the brand name TECAST. The Ensinger nylon product family of engineering plastics includes the following polyamide types:
The plastic material polyamide offers:
