6 Jun 2007
QUADRANT EPP FOCUS ON PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT YIELDS TWO NEW MATERIALS IN ITS PIPELINE FOR 2008
Tielt, Belgium – August, 2007 – In addition to several products which Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products (Quadrant EPP) will introduce at K 2007, the company also has developed a pipeline of new products targeted for commercialization in 2008. Two major projects that are in market testing are polyimide (PI) shapes and parts and PVDF film as a facing for outdoor architectural fabrics.
New entrant into polyimide products - Quadrant EPP is piloting two developed grades of PI with potential customers: one is based on unmodified “neat” polymer and the second is a 15% graphite-filled compound for low friction and wear applications.
The company intends to offer the new material in the form of rods, tubes, sheets for machining, and as direct formed parts and near net-shapes to minimize machining waste for high series volume components.
According to Stephan Glander, business manager for Quadrant EPP’s Advanced Materials, “Polyimide broadens our portfolio of high-end engineering plastics for use at 200°C and above. The material’s glass transition temperature (Tg) of 375°C fills a performance gap between our TORLON® polyamide-imide (PAI) shapes with a Tg of 285°C, and CELAZOLE® polybenzimidazole (PBI), at 425°C Tg.”
Glander says the product family is the result of two years’ development work. “In that time, we evaluated several polyimide resins until we validated a product with at least equivalent and in certain aspects superior properties compared with traditional polyimides.”
The company will continue its trial program with selected customers to validate performance in a wide variety of applications until full commercialization in early 2008.
New PVDF Architectural Textile Membrane - Quadrant EPP’s SYMALIT® PVDF architectural film is intended for use as a translucent membrane in architectural textiles for outdoor use in fabric roofing and side panel constructions.
The actual textile product for installation is a film and fabric composite made by coating a woven textile of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with Quadrant EPP’s PVDF film. A key element in the composite structure is welding, also a core competency of Quadrant EPP’s solid fluoropolymer sheet linings business. Because both the fabric and the coating of the membrane are made from the same polymer family, recycling is easy.
A highly weather-resistant polymer, PVDF has established itself as a coating on rigid substrates for building facades. The new membrane brings that performance to textile structures requiring long term optical and aesthetic properties. Like other textile membranes, the SYMALIT® product provides even, diffuse light, but has much higher light transmission - over 90%. This makes it suitable for applications ranging from zoological gardens to leisure pools and sport resorts where UV transmission is desirable.
“Our architectural membrane broadens the application range for PVDF and for architectural textiles,” says Quadrant EPP’s SYMALIT® product manager Beat Werthmüller. “Architects have been restricted in design flexibility with heavy glass and metal frame constructions, and with traditional inflated ETFE faced textile elements,” he noted. “A single inflated element is about 5m by 5m, and often much smaller, and they need a very strong and costly framework,” he says. “SYMALIT® PVDF membrane allows much larger textile constructions requiring only a single membrane layer because the membrane is so strong.”
The membrane meets UL 94 V-0 and DIN 4102/B1 flame ratings. Products in test are produced in roll widths up to 1.5m in thicknesses of 0.6 and 0.7 mm. Area weight is between 800 and 1000 g/m2. Pilot projects are in progress for validating existing data, with commercial introduction planned for 2008.
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Notes for editors
About Quadrant EPP
Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products (Quadrant EPP) is the world's leading manufacturer of engineering plastics in stock shapes (rod, plate, tube) for machining. Other specialities include custom nylon castings and finished parts. Quadrant EPP's catalogue of General and Advanced Engineering Plastics covers the broadest range (in terms of materials and dimensions) of standard and custom shapes for machining. SYMALIT® is the brand name of fluoroplastics traded by Quadrant EPP.
Products are available through a worldwide network of branch offices, technical support centres and authorized dealers.
Learn more about Quadrant EPP and SYMALIT® at www.quadrantplastics.com and www.symalit.com
About the Quadrant group
Quadrant, a global leader in high-performance polymer materials in the form of semi-finished and finished products with locations in 18 countries, generates annual sales of over CHF 800 million. The specialty engineering thermoplastics and composites manufactured and marketed by more than 2’400 employees worldwide are superior in performance to metals and other materials and are used in a growing number of applications, primarily in the capital goods industry. Together with leaders in a wide range of customer markets, Quadrant is continuously developing new areas of application. Thanks to its clear strategic orientation and focus, Quadrant has generated substantial added value for customers and shareholders since it was established in 1996 and is well prepared to continue expanding its market leadership in future.
