As the mobility industry continues to steer towards electrification, polymer producers are challenged to provide materials suitable for a new environment. As a plastics distributor, we are seeing changes in application demands relating to almost all aspects of a plastic part, including but not limited to the thermal environment, chemical exposure, flammability, aesthetic design, electrical resistance, and more. While this change has caused a shift away from materials traditionally used for internal combustion, it has also provided an opportunity in the plastics world to set new standards and develop new business for those on the cutting edge of new products and polymer developments. The focus areas below are driving innovation in polymers and plastic compounds to accelerate the adoption and efficacy of electric vehicles:

Thermal Management: Cooling certain areas of the vehicle has shifted drastically with the advent of EVs, removing the need for a traditional radiator but adding the need to keep the battery at an optimal operating temperature. We have seen that external temperatures can significantly affect battery range and are now experimenting with how battery temperatures, when not driving, can affect charging rate and overall battery longevity. Polymers being chosen for new thermal management components (i.e., heaters, coolant pumps, couplings, valves, etc.) must now be assessed for new thermal thresholds (some higher and others lower) to select materials that offer improved performance or cost savings opportunities.

Chemical Resistance: Changing hand-in-hand with thermal management are the chemicals being used to cool the vehicle and systems. While we still see prominent use of ethylene glycol-based coolant, the changes to the thermal environment have opened the door for new coolant formulations to be considered. These considerations will prompt new potential challenges to polymers selected in such applications as they will need to be resistant to any new cooling liquids used. With increases in battery size, output, and electrolyte formulations, we are also seeing new resistance demands in the battery itself, from trays to cell enclosures to spacers and more.

Flame Retardance: Where FMVSS302 has been a mainstay for polymer flammability performance in the past, the potential for thermal runaway and high voltage systems demands an increase in the number of flame-retardant plastics used in the vehicle. This is especially important in battery cell components but also applies to most battery-adjacent parts and areas of high voltage, like connectors and bus bars. Automakers and UL alike are working on new standards to better define the flame resistance needs of their components, and a means of testing said assemblies for flame mitigation and avoidance. From PP to mPPO to nylons, PPA, PPS, and more, we are seeing a strong push toward flame-capable polymers and compounds for EV builds.

Electrical Performance: As expected, electrification of the vehicle changes the voltage exposure and number of electrified components within a vehicle. CTI performance has been in the hot seat as new applications have increased the CTI values required and now exceeded the upper limits of how UL has traditionally rated such materials (now above 600 V). The need for arc resistance, dielectric strength across a range of temperatures, and chemical exposure combined with thermal/flame resistance aspects has thoroughly complicated the polymer material selection process for key components. Additionally, there is a move to color high voltage components orange, which brings additional variables relating to how easily a polymer can be colored, if the color will affect any performance properties, and what it does to the overall cost of a compound.

Aesthetic Opportunity: Electric vehicles are on the edge of technology in the mobility space and have provided the opportunity to change how a driver or passenger interacts with the car. More screens, larger screens, additional buttons and functionality are being packaged into new models, offering space to improve design features, colors, appearance, and decoration. Furthermore, the prospect of autonomous driving and ride-sharing opens the potential for departure from traditional cockpit-type builds leaning more towards comfort, entertainment, and social aspects of the vehicle. How do we make the seats and dash more comfortable or accessible? How do we design the vehicle layout to promote conversation or allow a passenger to relax more while in autonomous driving modes?

Ultimately the changing landscape in the EV space provides new opportunities for polymers to show their value and rise to new demands. The Chase Plastics commercial team is here to advise on the plastic products with proven performance in this field and those being developed to tackle new EV challenges in the future. We’d be happy to help navigate new product development requirements to ensure the most capable and cost-effective solution is chosen from the start.

Although recently gaining a spot in the limelight by playing a key role throughout the pandemic, plastics have always been a vital part of the medical device industry. Medical devices such as single-use syringes, catheters, and ventilators comprised of mostly plastic saw a rise in demand. Plastics have many attributes that make them ideal for applications in the healthcare market:

• Temperature resistance
• Chemical and corrosion resistance
• Biocompatibility
• Hemocompatibility
• Ability to be sterilized via multiple different methods
  • Gamma & E-beam radiation
  • Ethylene oxide (EtO)
  • Autoclave/steam sterilization

Plastics for the healthcare market, depending on the device being made, will have to meet specific criteria for use. The most critical criterion for plastics is biocompatibility. Biocompatibility means having properties that make a material or a device compatible with the human body. Some examples of biocompatibility:

• A catheter that does not trigger blood clot formation or trigger other reactions as a result of its contact with the bloodstream
• Suture materials that support tissue healing without triggering an inflammatory response and are constructed in a way that does not interfere with the body’s normal function
• Polymers suited for effective storage of blood cells since the blood will be re-introduced into a patient and the blood cannot be adversely affected by the storage container materials

Medical device manufacturers are responsible for providing test data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that proves their device is biocompatible in its final form to gain approval to market and sell their devices within the United States. Plastic manufacturers can support that by giving confidence that the plastic used in the final medical device assembly is biocompatible by itself. Plastic materials for medical use are typically subjected to United States Pharmacopeia (USP) testing. USP VI (class 6) is regarded as a minimum requirement for plastics being used in medical devices. USP classes I-V (1-5) also exist but are not as stringent as class VI (6).

• USP VI testing includes systemic injection, intracutaneous, and implantation testing of the plastic prepared in extracts with saline, alcohol saline, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and vegetable oil in mice and rabbits along with blanks to gauge reaction to the extracts
• USP VI cannot be used in place of providing overall medical device testing per ISO 10993 standards, but it does provide a level of confidence and is seen as a minimum requirement for plastic to be used in a healthcare application

ISO 10993 standard for biological evaluation provides testing framework for medical devices. However, some plastic manufacturers will also subject their materials to some of the tests within ISO 10993 to again show a level of confidence to the device manufacturers that their materials will be well-suited for use in the medical device. Some of the common ISO 10993 section tests that might be available for plastic materials:

• ISO 10993-3: Tests for Genotoxicity, Carcinogenicity, and Reproductive Toxicity
• ISO 10993-4: Selection of Tests for Interactions with Blood
• ISO 10993-5: Tests for Cytotoxicity—In Vitro Methods
• ISO 10993-10: Tests for Irritation and Sensitization
• ISO 10993-11: Tests for Systemic Toxicity

The healthcare market for medical devices is complex, and much testing and data are required to get a device approved for production and sale within the United States. The Engineering Team here at Chase Plastics are technically equipped to walk you through any analysis needed to offer healthcare application material recommendations. Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email to engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical questions today!

If you have questions on the topic above or another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form to the right. Someone from our Technical Team will be in touch within 2 hours!

For centuries, firearms have been predominately made of metal construction. Only in recent years, around the 1980s, did manufacturers start looking to use plastic in their firearm applications. Although a newer development in the firearm market, plastics have many advantages over steel, making it an excellent choice for certain components. The following are reasons to consider plastic in a firearm application:

• Lightweighting: handguns with steel frame construction can see up to a 40% reduction in weight moving to a nylon frame.
• Greater design and aesthetic freedom: in-mold textures for components like grips, pre-color, and masterbatch colorant options to achieve market-specific MIL-Spec colors, like flat dark earth (FDE), olive drab, and desert tan.
• Corrosion resistance: an inherent property of plastics
• Reduced recoil: improving ease of use of the firearm
• Serviceability: easier and more cost-effective to replace plastic components of firearms vs. metal
• Cost reduction: overall production cost of plastics is lower with fewer costly secondary operations vs. metal

Today, components like the slide and barrel remain constructed out of metal because of factors like temperature resistance that make plastics not a great option. Though most other components of the firearm can be designed and made of plastics, components like grips, frames, stocks, receivers, etc. In recent years, the military has even approved the use of plastic magazines. Some of the standard plastic materials used in firearms would include, but are not limited to:

• Short chain nylons (ex: PA 6, PA 6/6): used for their excellent chemical and heat resistance, as well as their great wear and friction performance
• Long-chain nylons (ex: PA 6/12): can be great for use in humid environments where their lower moisture absorption provides an improvement in dimensional stability
• Aromatic nylons (ex: PARA, PPA, HPPA): also provides great dimensional stability, as well as higher temperature resistance and improved surface appearance (especially in glass or carbon-filled options)
• High-temperature crystalline materials (ex: PPS, PEEK): excellent heat performance, retention of mechanical properties at elevated temperatures, and excellent chemical resistance.
• Thermoplastic elastomers (ex: TPE-s, TPV, TPU): broad range of hardness options available to help with ergonomics and vibration dampening.
• Long fiber-reinforced compounds (ex: long glass, long carbon): available in all the above material options, long fiber materials have the mechanical improvement seen with short fiber compounds without as much loss in impact.

Recreational outdoor and firearms solutions

Whether new to the firearms market or looking for new technologies for existing components already being produced, the Engineering Team here at Chase Plastics is ready and willing to walk you through any analysis needed to offer firearm application material recommendations.

Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email to engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical questions today!

If you have questions on the topic above or another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form to the right. Someone from our Technical Team will be in touch within 2 hours!

Metal-to-plastic conversion takes parts originally manufactured in metal and redesigns and fabricates them out of plastic.  The process of converting metal parts into plastic became popular during World War II when the need to mass produce affordable and reliable products was in high demand.  Today, we still look to replace metal parts with plastic for multiple reasons:

• Decrease in overall production costs
• Weight reduction/lightweighting
• Greater design freedom which allows for more complex parts
• Elimination of secondary operations
• Parts consolidation
• Longer tool life
• Corrosion resistance that is inherent in plastics

One industry that has successfully utilized, and continues to utilize, metal-to-plastic conversion is transportation.  The transportation sector has been replacing metal parts with plastic for lightweighting, which helps reduce the weight of the car or vehicle to provide fuel savings.  By replacing steel and cast-iron parts within the car’s body and chassis with lighter thermoplastics, up to a 50% decrease in overall vehicle weight can be achieved.  With the move towards electric vehicles (EVs), the need for lightweighting is integral in extending the drivable range of the car on a single charge.  In addition, the advantages of lightweighting in general for weight reduction in parts extend outside automotive applications.  They can provide added benefits such as making parts easier to lift and operate in our everyday lives and lowering shipping costs.

With a multitude of benefits in converting metal parts to plastic, what causes manufacturers and designers to hesitate?  There are a few things to consider when converting from metal to plastic, including redesigning the part.  Rarely, if ever, can we use a design created for metal for plastic.  There is also a perception of inferior strength and performance in using plastic and resistance to change to plastic in some markets.  Here are some ways to start to alleviate those concerns:

• With the proper assistance from materials engineers and software, the performance of a particular design in plastic can be simulated in the design phase before ever cutting steel or aluminum to create a mold, thus eliminating the guesswork if a design or plastic will work.
• Metals are very stiff and strong, but they are also heavy. Thermoplastics with a high loading of glass reinforcement can achieve the same or better strength at a lower density.  The result is a material with greater specific strength (material’s strength compared to its density) than metals like zinc and aluminum.  Table showing specific strength of common metals and thermoplastics below

The Engineering Team here at Chase Plastics is ready and willing to walk you through any analysis needed to offer metal-to-plastic material recommendations.  Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email to engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical questions today!

If you have questions on the topic above or another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form to the right.  Someone from our Technical Team will be in touch within 2 hours!

Consumers of plastic products want to feel positive and know they are doing something good for the earth and its inhabitants by buying “green” or sustainable products. Consumers demand products that will lower our reliance on fossil fuels and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Plastic product manufacturers and brand owners are also looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. How do we accomplish this? Sustainable materials.

To understand our options for sustainability in the plastics industry, we must first understand some key terms or buzz words surrounding these materials:

• Bioplastics: a family of materials that can further be split into two groups: biobased and biodegradable.
• Biobased: (beginning of life) These materials are made entirely or partially from bio/renewable carbons (plant-based) compared to standard petroleum/fossil fuel-based carbons.
• Biodegradable: (end of life) These materials can undergo biodegradation, a chemical process in which microorganisms convert the materials into natural substances like water, carbon dioxide, and compost.
• Compostable: Materials that have been tested and certified by a third party to adhere to international standards such as ASTM D6400 (in the U.S.) or EN 13432 (in Europe) for biodegradation in an industrial composting facility environment.
• Biocomposite: combines traditional plastics with biomaterials like wood, flax, hemp, starch, etc., to be used as filler or reinforcement.

Bioplastics can be either 1) non-biodegradable and fully or partially biobased, 2) biodegradable and fully petroleum-based, or
3) biodegradable and fully or partially biobased.

Now that we understand what the key terms are for bioplastics, what type of practical options are there for approaches to sustainability with plastic products?

1. Renewable feedstocks: Utilization of biobased plastics and biocomposites from starch and other natural fiber feedstocks reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional plastic production.
2. Reclaimed feedstocks: Utilization of other industry’s byproducts to create biocomposites (think wood fiber millings) to replace petroleum-based feedstocks in traditional plastics can also reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Biodegradable materials: Biodegradable & compostable plastics can help reduce landfill waste, mainly when used for food service in conjunction with composting of food waste and in many packaging applications.
4. Recycled materials: Opting for recycled plastic over virgin-based plastic feedstock yields tremendous energy savings. It also gives the material a second life (think carpet fibers being reprocessed into post-consumer polyamide grades or scrap parts being reprocessed into post-industrial grades of various materials).

Equipped with understanding the key terms for bioplastics and practical approaches, processors and brand owners can opt for “greener” options that satisfy consumers’ needs for a more sustainable product.

The Engineering Team here at Chase Plastics is ready and willing to walk you through any analysis needed to offer suitable electrostatic dissipative materials to meet your needs.  Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email to engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical questions today!

If you have questions on the topic above or another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form to the right.  Someone from our Technical Team will be in touch within 2 hours!

As more OEM’s focus on product innovation surrounding ergonomics and aesthetics, we have seen increased demand for TPE usage in plastic parts and assemblies. So, what is a TPE? The answer can be complex depending on the intended use, environment, and performance expectations.

TPEs are soft and flexible like elastomers/rubber but can be processed with conventional fabrication techniques (injection molding, extrusion, etc.) and reprocessed like a thermoplastic. Simply put, there are many types of elastomers that fall under the TPE umbrella, and choosing the right one for an application can be a tricky process. Temperature and chemical resistance, overmold bonding, hardness, and tactile feel are just some of the qualifying factors to review when selecting the best TPE for a new or existing application.

Almost all TPEs contain two or more distinct polymeric phases: hard and soft. Their properties depend on the chemistry phases being finely and intimately mixed. Below are some common examples of TPE chemistries:

Chase Plastics offers one of the largest thermoplastic elastomer offerings in plastics distribution. Please see the attached guide for a deeper look at our extensive soft product portfolio. Our team is here to provide insight into the many types of TPE’s available in the market. Whether you are looking for a particular part performance, or a basic education, our sales and engineering teams are ready to answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to see how our technical expertise, diverse product line, and outrageous customer service can help take your product from resin to reality!

Click to view our soft product portfolio

When talking in terms of conductivity, both thermal and electrical, plastic materials are considered insulative.  Insulative materials do not allow the flow of thermal energy or conduct current through its mass quickly or at all.  Sometimes, however, we need our plastic parts to do just that, conduct current or ground a part.

To quantify electrical conductivity, we test either the surface or the volume resistivity of the plastic. Resistivity is the resistance to leakage current through the body (volume) or along the surface of an insulating material.  The values are then given in ohms (surface) or ohms-m (volume).  The higher the value, the better they are at resisting the conducting of the current or, the more insulating they are. Plastic materials without fillers, additives, etc., to improve conductivity are in the insulating range of the ≥ 10¹² ohms resistivity, compared to metals in the conductive range of ≤ 10⁶ ohms.

The Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) protective range can be broken down into three categories and their corresponding resistivity ranges:

• Anti-static (anti-stat) is 10⁹ to 10¹² ohms.  In this range, initial electrostatic charges are suppressed, preventing the buildup of static electricity.  In plastics, we can achieve this with additives.
• Static dissipative is 10⁶ to 10⁹ ohms.  There are low or no initial charges in this range and prevent discharge to and from human contact.  It will also ground charges, but much slower than conductive grades.  In plastics, we can achieve this with metal fiber reinforcements and other conductive additives.
• Conductive is less than 10⁶ ohms.  In this range, there are no initial charges.  It provides a path for electrons to flow freely across the surface or through the bulk of these materials, making it easy to ground charges or move them to another conductive object.  In plastics, we can achieve this with metal fiber reinforcements and other conductive additives.

So, why do we need ESD protection and parts that offer that protection?  Static electricity.  Static electricity can build up to as much as 30,000+ volts.  Plastics or other insulative materials do not move the charge, and it remains on the surface.  Once a person comes into contact with the built-up charge, it will discharge via an arc or spark.  The discharge that occurs to that person can range from a mild to painful shock, and in extreme cases, can result in death.

Another reason that we need ESD protection is that electronic parts can be destroyed or damaged by a discharge as little as 20 volts.  Discharge that results in sparks can also be dangerous around flammable liquids, solids, or gases, such as in a hospital operating room.  In these cases, we would look to utilize plastic materials that have been specially compounded to meet any of the ESD ranges needed to protect against harm or damage.

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The Engineering Team here at Chase Plastics is ready and willing to walk you through any analysis needed to offer suitable electrostatic dissipative materials to meet your needs.  Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email to engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical questions today!

If you have questions on the topic above or another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form to the right.  Someone from our Technical Team will be in touch within 2 hours!

When comparing two materials for an application, the true cost of a polymer is not limited to the price per pound.  As any molding or extrusion shop knows, there can be hidden costs in the complexity to run, scrap rate, tooling changes, special processing equipment, and many other factors.  One aspect to consider that is often overlooked is the specific gravity of the product(s) in question.

To get started, let’s look at the definition of specific gravity.  The dictionary defines specific gravity as the ratio of the density of a substance (in our case, plastics) to the density of a standard, usually water.  Now in the case of water, the density is roughly 1 gram/ml.  As such, when comparing a material’s ratio of density to 1 g/cm^3, the specific gravity will be the same as the material’s density.  For instance, if a 30% glass-filled polypropylene homopolymer has a density of 1.13 g/cm^3, then the specific gravity of that compound would be 1.13 as well (specific gravity is a unitless value).  Specific gravity is commonly seen on plastics’ datasheets, so we mention this description.  However, density and specific gravity can be used interchangeably for most intents and purposes since both represent how much plastic you get for a set volume of material.

This begins to affect cost because we buy and sell plastic raw materials by the pound rather than its volume.  Specific gravity can be used to show how far a set weight of material will go in terms of how many parts it can produce.  Roughly stated, lighter materials can make more parts per bag or box of raw material used.

For instance, let’s use the even number of a proposed part with a volume of 100 cm³ where we have the option to use HDPE or acetal (POM) for the same job.  If we have a 25kg bag of HDPE with a density of 0.953 g/cm^3, it will yield approximately 221 parts from that bag.  The math for this is as follows:

25kg bag = 25,000g of HDPE. At 0.953 g/cm³ that equals 26,232.9 cm³.
Since each part is only 100 cm^3, you would be able to create 262 parts.

If we were to produce the part in acetal, the specific gravity would jump up to 1.41 g/cm³.  That would adjust the math to the following:

25kg bag = 25,000g of POM. At 1.41 g/cm³ that equals 17,730.4 cm³.
Since each part is only 100 cm^3, you would be able to create 177 parts.

Therefore, if we made the parts from HDPE rather than POM, you would create roughly 48% more parts using one 25kg bag of material.  This equation works easily when comparing two materials of the same price, but what about when they are different or arguably more expensive?

Say you are comparing two materials, but one is 5% more expensive.  If the more expensive material has a specific gravity that is lower by 5%, then the two materials are functionally equivalent in cost per part. If the more expensive material is 10% lower in specific gravity, it is actually a cost savings per part to use the “more expensive” material per lb.

When comparing materials for a new job, it is always pertinent to compare the specific gravity for potential savings.

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The Engineering Team here at Chase Plastics is ready and willing to walk you through this analysis if needed or offer lighter materials for savings opportunities when possible.  Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email to engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical needs today!

If you have questions on the topic above or another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form to the right.  Someone from our Technical Team will be in touch within 2 hours!

Let’s understand why materials need to be dried in the first place.  For thermoplastics, there are hygroscopic and non-hygroscopic resins.  Hygroscopic resins have an affinity for moisture, and it gets absorbed into the polymer chains of the material.  For hygroscopic resins (polymers that naturally absorb moisture such as Nylon, PBT, PET, ABS, and PC products), it is critical to ensure proper drying of the material prior to processing it.  In doing so, you will help prevent part failure due to hydrolysis and cosmetic defects such as splay or silver streaking.  Hydrolysis is the chemical breakdown of a compound due to the reaction caused by the presence of moisture in elevated temperatures.  This means that when a hygroscopic resin is processed with moisture, it causes the polymer chains to break, resulting in a significant decrease in mechanical properties.

Below is an example of the resin moisture capacity of 3 polymers; polyethylene (non-hygroscopic), polycarbonate (hygroscopic), and nylon (hygroscopic). Every polymer has its own capacity to absorb water, meaning some will absorb water more readily than others.

When molding hygroscopic materials, it’s recommended to use a desiccant dehumidifying style dryer to properly remove moisture from the material.  Let’s understand how a desiccant dehumidifying style dryer works:

• It dries the air to the required dew point level
• Heats the air to a specified temperature
• Circulates the heated airflow within its own closed-loop system
• Moisture migrates out of the polymer and is removed from the circulating air via desiccant bed

The desiccant bed is a cartridge type “filter” made up of moisture-absorbing desiccant beads.  An example of this would be the silica gel desiccant beads found in everyday consumer items/packaging (i.e., dry goods, shoe boxes, vitamin containers, clothing, and packaging).  The silica gel desiccant beads act as a dryer and capture unwanted moisture, preserving the product.

Now let’s review dryer maintenance and how you can tell if your desiccant beads are bad.  This is important to understand, so you aren’t molding material that still has moisture in it when processing.  As mentioned previously, processing hygroscopic materials with moisture leads to cosmetic defects and hydrolysis, which breaks the polymer chains affecting the overall mechanical properties of the material/ part.

There are three ways to tell a desiccant is bad in your dryer:

• You cannot hold the desired set dew point on your dryer for the material. If it never reaches the desired dew point or doesn’t hold it for long, then it’s probably time to change the desiccant.
• Pull the desiccant beads out and squish them between your fingers. If they are very brittle and crumble upon doing so, they’re bad and need to be replaced.
• Take a styrofoam cup, fill it with about 1 inch of desiccant beads, and pour water on them, just enough to cover them or leave a few above the water. It’s good to know what the water temperature is before filling the cup.  If the cup and water get hot, then they’re still good.  However, if it remains cold, then it’s time to change the desiccants.  When desiccants absorb moisture, they give off heat.  You can then use a thermometer to measure the water temperature difference after the water reacts with the desiccant beads to see the change in temperature.

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The Chase Plastics team of engineers is ready to assist with any drying and process related questions you may have. Give us a call at 844-411-2427 or send an email at engineering@chaseplastics.com to get support on any of your technical needs today!

If you have questions on the topic above or have another issue to tackle, please submit your inquiry in the questions/contact form. Someone from our technical team will be in touch once it has been submitted.