Ultem High Temperature Resin for Plastic Injection Molding

June 4th, 2021

If you are looking for a plastic injection molding company that provides engineering consultation, quality tooling and manufacturing solutions with high temperature resins like Ultem and Valox, Southwest Plastics in California is a preferred choice by the automotive, aerospace and US defense & military sector. The engineers at Southwest Plastics have worked closely with manufacturers such as Boeing to create sub assembly components based on rigorous high-temperature plastic molding requirements.

Ultem High Temperature Resin

If you are looking to utilize Ultem Polyetherimide (PEI) in your product prototype or production run, our team of engineers are familiar with every caveat, use case, benefit, and restriction around this specialty material.

Ultem is an amorphous, high-performance polymer that can withstand extreme temperatures. In previous projects we have utilized Ultem due to its ability to perform at temperatures as high as 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Since its development in the early 1980’s, Ultem continues to be widely utilized in the aerospace industry. Our engineering team is able to provide initial engineering consultation services in order to ensure that the material being utilized matches the project spec and that manufacturing occurs to the highest degree of precision. Ultem is an excellent ingredient that can achieve flame retardancy of a UL 94-VO rated standard.

Outside of flame resistance, Ultem provides low smoke evolution and low smoke toxicity. It is popular also, in part, due to its level of chemical stability including long-term hydrolytic and dimensional stability. Imagine your application in high heat conditions approaching 700 degrees Fahrenheit, yet your PEI material continues to perform at an exceptional level of strength and rigidity. It’s these high tolerances for heat and pressure resistance that make PEI formulations like Ultem the perfect substance for many automotive and aerospace applications.

 

Valox™ Specialty Resin

A number of contemporary engineers are beginning to realize the potential in PBT polymer products, specifically Valox™ specialty resin. With over 55 available grades, Valox™ resins can offer solvent resistance, outstanding dielectric strength, a wide variety of electrical properties, High RTI of up to 284 degrees Fahrenheit, low temperature performance down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, and flame resistance. From an applications standpoint, Valox performs well in power plugs and electrical components, circuit breaker enclosures, outdoor telecommunications enclosures, medical applications such as clamps, pump parts, and much more. Our engineers are able to specify the use of Valox resins for different applications during prototyping test runs and full production runs.

Our Case Study

Southwest Plastics is a proven engineering firm with extensive experience in plastic injection molding for US Defense applying both Ultem and Valox to the formulation. Our project in questions is still highly confidential but we can confirm that our contribution was to a sub assembly part that was unique to a compressor module that goes into a cockpit. Our commitment to engineering and manufacturing the part was to:

1.     Keep design and manufacturing in the USA

2.     Provide quality and genuine resins that were engineered to high temperature settings

3.     To engineer the tooling in the USA, protecting all intellectual property rights

4.     High quality inspection levels to meet US defense and military requirements

The reason we share this information is simply to provide the confidence to US based companies to opt out of creating tools in China where intellectual property is simply not protected. The cost of tooling and engineering in the USA is marginally higher but the quality and protection over your design is key.

We have seen many companies lose their design ideas in the far east due to intellectual property theft. There is no better benefit for the long-term success of a company than partnering with a manufacturer that values your design and intellectual property rights. In this regard, Southwest Plastics is the leading California Molder that meets these qualifications.

Whether you’re looking to re-shore back from China to the USA, or are looking to grow your business within the states, Southwest Plastics is a premium solution in the marketplace for specialty plastics manufacturing. We’re a family-owned business that has provided generations of loyalty to its customer base. Our integrity and honesty have earned us the trust of many customers over the years. There aren’t many unique plastic tooling and injection molding company’s left in the USA - we are proud to serve a variety of sectors and will continue to innovate with you.