what is peek?
PEEK is a high-performance special engineering plastic. The following is a detailed introduction to it:
-Chemical Structure: The main chain of PEEK contains a large number of ether and ketone bonds, which endows it with excellent properties due to its unique chemical structure
-Appearance: Generally white or beige powder or granular substance.
- Mechanical performance : It has excellent strength and rigidity, with a tensile strength of over 90MPa, as well as good toughness and impact resistance, comparable to some metal materials. For example, in the aerospace industry, components made of PEEK can withstand large mechanical loads.
- Thermal performance : Outstanding high temperature resistance, with long-term use temperatures up to 260 ℃ and short-term use temperatures up to 300 ℃, while maintaining good mechanical properties and dimensional stability at high temperatures. The glass transition temperature is around 150 ℃, the melting point is about 341 ℃, and the hot deformation temperature is also relatively high, such as the hot deformation temperature HDT-A of 162 ℃
-Chemical stability: It has excellent tolerance to various organic solvents, oils, weak acids, and weak bases, and can maintain strength over a wide temperature range and concentration, without easily changing color, expanding, or cracking. Only a few highly corrosive substances such as concentrated sulfuric acid can have an impact on it
-Wear resistance and self-lubricating properties: With a low coefficient of friction, it has good self-lubricating performance and can achieve oil-free lubrication work. It has excellent wear resistance in many harsh application environments such as high temperature, high load, and strong corrosion. Therefore, it is often used to manufacture components such as gears and bearings that require wear resistance and low friction
- Hydrolysis resistance : PEEK products can still work continuously for thousands of hours without significant performance degradation when immersed in steam at temperatures exceeding 250 ℃ or in high-pressure water, which gives them unique advantages in some humid or high-temperature steam environments
-Flame retardancy: Without the use of any additives, the flammability level of the 1.45mm thick PEEK sample is UL94 V-0, which has good flame retardancy. The smoke and toxic gas emissions during combustion are particularly low, improving safety during use
-Electrical Performance: It can maintain stable and excellent electrical performance over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies, making it suitable for the manufacturing of high-performance insulation components in the electronic and electrical fields
-Radiation resistance: It has extremely strong resistance to high-dose gamma ray radiation, and its mechanical properties can be fully preserved. It can be used as a radiation resistant component in nuclear equipment
-Biocompatibility: It has good compatibility with the human body, no toxic side effects, and therefore has a wide range of applications in the field of medical devices, such as manufacturing artificial bones, dental descaling devices, endoscope parts, etc.
3.Processing performance
-Injection molding: Injection molding technology can be used to directly process parts, but the molding temperature is relatively high, generally between 320 ℃ -390 ℃, and there are certain requirements for screw and other equipment. After the molding is completed, the screw needs to be quickly cleaned with PE wax to prevent material residue.
- Mechanical processing : It can perform post-processing such as turning, milling, drilling, tapping, bonding, and ultrasonic welding, and can meet the manufacturing needs of various shapes and sizes of components.
4.Application of PEEK
-Aerospace field: Used for manufacturing aircraft wings, fuselage structural components, engine parts, landing gear components, etc. It can replace traditional metal materials, reduce weight, and improve component performance and reliability
-The automotive industry, including engine peripheral components, transmission components, steering components, bearings, gaskets, seals, clutch rings, etc., helps to achieve miniaturization, lightweighting, and improve the performance and service life of automobiles
-In the field of electronics and electrical engineering, it is an ideal material for manufacturing semiconductor manufacturing equipment, electronic insulation films, wafer carriers, connecting devices, ultrapure water transport pipelines, valves, and pumps. It can meet the high-precision, high-performance, and high reliability requirements of materials in this field
-In the field of medical devices, in addition to artificial bones, dental descaling devices, and endoscope parts, it can also be used to manufacture surgical instruments, implantable medical devices, medical device casings, etc. Its biocompatibility and sterilization resistance make it play an important role in the medical field
-In the field of chemical engineering, it can be used to manufacture compressor valve plates, piston rings, seals, and various chemical pump bodies, valve components, etc. It can withstand various corrosive media and high temperature and high pressure environments in chemical production
- Other fields : It is widely used in food processing, office machinery components, wire wrapping, fibers, plates, rods, and other fields, such as separation claws for copiers, special heat-resistant bearings, chains, gears, PEEK wrapped wires, industrial filter cloth, industrial brushes, etc
