LATI: New ultra-stiff compounds for demanding applications

Italian compounding specialist LATI Industria Termoplastici SpA (Vedano Olona, www.lati.com) presents a new family of carbon fibre reinforced, ultra-stiff polymers. The high performance base polymers include polyamide (PA), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyphthalamide (PPA) and polyether ether ketone (PEEK). Particular features of the compounds are their excellent mechanical properties such as high elastic modulus and tensile strength as well as low elongation at break. They are therefore suitable for demanding defence, aerospace, automobile and medical applications along with sport and leisure equipment where the components are subject to very high loadings. In these areas they can be substituted for metallic materials such as steel as well as thermosets and composites.

Depending on the base polymer and filler level the elastic modulus of the new compounds from LATI can be as high as 50,000 MPa. For comparison the elastic modulus of conventional carbon fibre reinforced polymers is around 15,000 MPa. In addition to that they have a very low elongation at break of just 1%, so that components under heavy loadings hardly show any deformation. They are also resistant to aggressive chemicals and temperatures to well in excess of 200°C.

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The new ultra-stiff polymers from LATI are easy to process on injection moulding equipment so that even components with complex geometries can be produced cost effectively. On top of that functional elements can be integrated as part of the injection moulding process eliminating additional assembly steps. In this way the compounds contribute not only to a reduction in the production costs but also in the cost of assembly.

As for all of its products LATI offers comprehensive application and development support. Properties and parameters individually adjusted for the particular application can be offered at any time.

Lati Industria Termoplastici Deutschland GmbH, Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt, Germany

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