Aramid fibers have the lowest specific weight and are characterized by extreme toughness and abrasion resistance. Another notable characteristic is their negative coefficient of thermal expansion. However, due to their high level of toughness, aramid fibers can be difficult to process.
Aramid plastics are used primarily where extreme requirements are imposed in terms of impact strength, material damping and abrasion resistance, in addition to where low weight is also a requirement. In bearing and wear applications, aramid fibers can add strength and wear resistance without causing excessive abrasion to counter-surfaces as glass fibers will tend to do.
Compared to the reinforcement fibers, such as glass fibers, aramid fibers are considerably more expensive.
