Stanyl, a high-heat polyamide 4,6 (PA46) resin from DSM Engineering Plastics, is adding a new market segment, fibre and film to its existing broad portfolio.

Stanyl, a high-heat polyamide 4,6 (PA46) resin from DSM Engineering Plastics, is adding a new market segment, fibre and film, to its existing broad portfolio of injection moulded, high-tech and high-heat engineered applications. As with injection moulded designs, Stanyl-based fibre and film benefit from the material's unusually high crystallinity and resulting extraordinary mechanical properties, as well as its high melting point. In fibre and film, Stanyl adds a new side: it can be soft and supple.

'Stanyl brings new potential for designers by offering a family of materials that offers high performance, high temperature resistance and high wear and abrasion resistance,' said Dan Bishop, Stanyl global marketing manager.

'It provides mechanical properties beyond those of such standard engineering materials as PA 6 and PA66.

And it does so at lower cost than more exotic materials, such as PPS, PEEK, aramid and fluorinated polymers.' Processing of Stanyl into filament or sheet can be accomplished with standard equipment running at temperatures slightly higher than conventional materials.

Because Stanyl does not cross-link under heat, the material presents processing advantages as well.

It does not gel or build up in equipment internals, even when subjected to long dwell times in mixers, injection screws and extrusion dies.

In fact, the viscosity of Stanyl becomes lower with heat ageing, making it in effect self-cleaning, avoiding the periodic line stoppage and tear-down required to clean out gels formed by other PA types.

Fibre applications include staple for felted products - its affinity to water makes it ideal for papermaking blankets - as well as industrial yarns for airbag seam thread, abrasion-resistant garments and protective composite fabrications.

Filament uses include such diverse applications as professional hairbrushes, and as rubber reinforcement for v-belts, automotive hose and tire tread and carcass uses.

It has shown excellent performance as automotive air-bag thread, a highly demanding application.

During inflation of the airbag, seams are severely stressed by the explosion.

The stitch holes in the seam open, and the hot inflation gasses flow out, causing intensive short-term heating of the sewing thread.

A high tenacity multifilament yarn has been commercially available since 1996 from Polyamide High Performance (Wuppertal, Germany) under the trade name Stanylenka yarn Film applications include a range of high-heat products, from gaskets to stamped bearing surfaces, to dielectric and solderable sheet for electronics, all of which take advantage of the material's heat or abrasion resistance.

Stanyl film additionally provides an excellent barrier to chemical permeation.

'The high crystallinity of Stanyl provides high performance for all properties that correlate with crystallinity,' said Jippe van Ruiten, global research and technology application development technical service manager, Stanyl Fibre and Film.

'This includes abrasion resistance, friction, modulus, creep, resilience and resistance to hydrolysis.' Stanyl's high amide content gives the material a higher affinity for moisture than other PAs.

Overall there is a balance between a higher tendency to pick up moisture and a lower volume of the amorphous phase due to higher crystallinity.

In textile applications this results in significant enhancement of tactile properties and moisture management.