INTRODUCTION
Acetal (POM) polymers are semi-crystalline. They offer excellent inherent lubricity, fatigue resistance, and chemical resistance. Acetals suffer from outgassing problems at elevated temperatures, and are brittle at low temperatures. Glass filled, and added lubrication grades are available, flame retardant grades are not.
4POM® is the registered trade name for Acetal (POM) compounds produced by 4PLAS. We offer a wide range of Acetal compounds including standard ex-stock grades, short lead time custom compound and colour solutions and high performance compounds.
PROPERTIES
4POM® materials offer the following key properties:
- Excellent stiffness and hardness
- Good mechanical strength
- Very good toughness
- Excellent abrasion resistance and low friction
- Low moisture absorption
- Good creep and fatigue behaviour
- High dimensional stability - low warpage
- Good thermal stability
- Good electrical properties
- Very good chemical resistance
- Very good surface finish
- Good flow and processing properties
PRODUCTS
The 4POM® Acetal standard range includes the following products:
- Prime natural and black
- Industrial
- WRAS approved
- Range of melt flows
With the addition of a wide range of modifiers, stabilisers, speciality additives and customised colours, 4POM® can be compounded as:
- Unreinforced
- Custom solid colours
- Impact modified
- Glass fibre reinforced
- Glass bead reinforced
- Carbon fibre reinforced
- Aramid fibre reinforced
- Heat stabilised
- Low warpage
- Lubricated
- Surface modified
- UV/ light stabilised
- Laser markable
- 4TECH®
For individual grades or to search using a wide range of criteria please use our interactive material selector.
Our standard range is comprehensive, however should you not find what you are looking for within the data available on this website, we offer Custom Compounds to suit the requirements of specific applications.
If you would like advice on selecting suitable materials, or you cannot find what you are looking for, please contact us and one of our team will be pleased to assist you.
PACKAGING
4POM® grades are supplied in pellet form and packed in moisture proof 25kg bags. Other forms of packaging such as octabins and big-bags are also available.
DRYING
4POM® has low moisture absorption and under normal conditions can be processed straight from the bag.
However materials stored in open packs or containers should be dried at 100°C to 120°C for a minimum of 3 to 6 hours.
PROCESSING
4POM® compounds can be processed on all commercial injection moulding machinery.
It is necessary to have precise temperature control for processing Acetals. The temperature of the nozzle is also very important in order to avoid thermal loss or overheating.
Short open nozzles are recommended to reduce shear. In general nozzle diameters should be 3 to 6mm.
For more information on this product, see our processing guides, troubleshooting guides and chemical resistance charts.
RECYCLING
Regrind levels up to 20% can be used depending on the application and requirements. Regrind should be free of contamination, should not be thermally degraded and must be dry as moulded, or be dried prior to reuse.
SAFETY
Under normal conditions 4POM® is not a toxic or hazardous material. During processing preventative action should be taken to avoid direct contact with the polymer melt or inhalation of any gases produced. Processing temperatures above 240°C should be avoided. Detailed safety information can be found in our material safety data sheets (MSDS).