POM plastic - Polyoxymethylene

POM material, also called acetal plastic, is a semi crystalline thermoplastic with high mechanical strength and rigidity. POM material has very good sliding properties, excellent wear resistance and low moisture absorption. The material's dimensional stability, particularly good fatigue strength and  excellent machinability make plastic POM a very versatile engineering material, especially for complex components.

The engineering plastic POM can be divided into acetal homopolymer (POM-H) and acetal copolymer (POM-C) due to their slightly different chemical structures which results in higher crystallinity for POM-H. It is known under the brand name Delrin® from DuPont de Nemours, Inc., and has a slightly higher density, hardness and strength compared to copolymer. However, the excellent mechanical properties of Delrin® material are not the only advantage; it also offers slightly better heat resistance due to its higher melting point. POM-C material, on the other hand, is characterised by better chemical resistance. Because both POM polymers exhibit food-safe properties, either one can be used in the food processing environment, unless strong chlorinated cleaning fluids are expected. Under this condition, POM-C should be the preferred material of choice.

Delrin® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

Manufactured POM products and POM parts

As a global POM manufacturer and POM supplier, Ensinger offers expert solutions whether the requirement is for components made by POM injection molding, POM machining, POM profiles or acetal filaments, (including Delrin® filaments). If you prefer to do your own POM plastic machining, whether it is Delrin® machining or coplymer, we can supply POM semi-finished products from stock in the form of POM sheets or POM rods. In addition, we can also modify the POM granules with additives according to customer specific requirements to produce the desired POM compound.

POM rods, plates and tubes - manufactured POM stock shapes

Ensinger is a supplier of standard POM rods and POM plates for acetal machining such as

  • Acetal rod (3-300 mm diameter)
  • Acetal sheet (0.5-150 mm thickness)
  • Acetal tube (on stock and customised in a broad range of sizes)
The unfilled POM polymer and its acetal modifications are offered by Ensinger under the brand name TECAFORM. The Ensinger TECAFORM family includes the following acetal modifications:

TECAFORM - Why POM plastic from Ensinger?

High quality

As the world's largest extruder of homopolymer POM material, Ensinger offers a very extensive stock programme. The semi-finished products are made of materials, some of which have regulatory approvals for the food industry and others. Ensinger is an acetal supplier that produces POM materials to the highest quality standards that meet ASTM and DIN requirements for residual stress, porosity and stability during machining. Our exclusive extrusion technology results in such low internal stress that POM machining results in dimensionally stable, low warpage precision parts.

Many modifications

From natural and black coloured unfilled versions to POM GF 25 (25 % glass filled) and POM blue for the food industry, Ensinger has the widest variety of POM plastic materials in unfilled and modified forms. Our extensive inventory of acetal sheet and acetal rod and tube makes selecting the right size for your application an easy task.

POM PROPERTIES AND SPECIFICATIONS

POM thermoplastic offers:

  • High strength, toughness and rigidity due to its highly crystalline composition, retains rigidity down to -40 °C. 
  • Colour variety, with natural and black acetal
  • Suitable for impact applications due to its high impact strength, even at low temperatures
  • Precise machining with tight tolerances due to the high crystallinity and low water absorption (saturation at 0.8 %)
  • Excellent wear resistance and sliding properties
  • Cost-effective substitute for metals or other expensive plastics
  • Good creep resistance 
  • High dimensional stability with small differences in wall thickness
  • Good hydrolysis resistance, up to approx. 60 °C, (limited suitability for contact with chlorine and alkaline solutions)
  • Excellent elasticity behaviour
 

POM APPLICATIONS & POM USES

  • Sliding applications, e.g. bearing bushes, rollers, slide rails
  • Design solutions with snap hooks 
  • Electrically insulating parts
  • Components in contact with water
  • Scratch resistant, high gloss visible parts
  • Wide range of components in the food, pharmaceutical, drinking water and medical technology industries