Victrex plc : VICTREX® PEEK™ Polymer Enables the Development of Lighter Aircrafts

2012-01-27

Victrex Polymer Solutions will showcase its latest product and technology innovations at this year's JEC Composites Show

Hofheim/Taunus - Victrex Polymer Solutions has the broadest range of polyaryletherketones on the market. Its portfolio of -based materials is used in aerospace, automotive and other demanding industries to successfully replace metals to enhance application performance, lower costs and satisfy stringent safety and environmental regulations.

With its myriad low density material solutions, Victrex' booth will be of particular interest to aircraft manufacturers who are driven by the need to design the most lightweight (see graph) and environmentally fuel-efficient aircraft possible and reduce overall manufacturing costs. These high performance polymers, available in a variety of formats, have been selected for use in harsh environment applications because they are lightweight, durable, exceptionally strong, chemically resistant and inherently flame retardant.

Represented in Victrex' booth at JEC, thin, durable are readily available and increasingly used to replace DuPont Tedlar® PVF film to reduce weight and improve performance in numerous applications. These lightweight versatile films are available in a broad range of thicknesses and widths. They provide very good permeation barrier properties with low moisture absorption as well as excellent flame, smoke and toxicity performance. APTIV film laminates meet FAA requirements for radiant panel testing and specialised burn-through barrier systems.

based on VICTREX PEEK polymer are the latest innovation from Victrex to be exhibited at JEC. VICTREX Pipes offer a broad range of including chemical, corrosion, abrasion and permeation resistance at high temperatures, in a flexible format. For the aerospace industry, VICTREX Pipes offer significant weight savings, up to 68% compared to stainless steel. Additionally, they are inherently halogen-free with low levels of smoke and toxic gas emissions.

VICTREX PEEK polymer's outstanding mechanical properties and processability make it an excellent solution for a wide range of in aerospace, oil and gas, medical and industrial applications. In the form of granules, powders, film and filaments they provide the optimum impregnation to the fibre system and optimize the performance of the fibre-matrix interface. Examples are multi-axial fabric laminates, and unidirectional (UD) tapes and sheets. Advantages include reduced manufacturing and maintenance costs, longer service life, good recyclability, processability and performance when compared to metals, thermosets and most other thermoplastic materials. Up to 50% weight reduction can be realised over metals and metal alloys with more than 5 times the specific strength of typical metals and alloys used in aerospace applications.

At the booth Victrex' experts will be on hand to share information about the latest developments and showcase many exhibited parts made of VICTREX PEEK 90, 150, 380, and 450 polymer standard grades. Additionally, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about VICTREX® PEEK™ 650G which offers extraordinary ductility, impact strength and increased toughness to promote longer life. The 650G grade can be processed using standard processing methods including extrusion, compression moulding, and injection moulding where minimal residual stress is desired for applications requiring a ductile failure mode.

Since 2005 Victrex Polymer Solutions, a division of Victrex plc has been a participant in JEC, the biggest composites event in Europe and the world. As the world's leading manufacturer of high performance polyaryletherketones, Victrex Polymer Solutions is , combining over 30 years of expertise with unmatched focused product and technical service capability. The company has an unrivalled reputation for identifying challenges in key markets and delivering a solution.