For durable parts requiring special thermal management, BASF expands its portfolio of Ultramid Advanced T1000. The polyphthalamide (PPA) range based on polyamide 6T/6I now also includes optimized grades with high hydrolysis resistance (HR) and high purity (EQ = electronic quality). This addresses the increasing needs of the automotive industry for combustion engines and electric motors with inverters or fuel cells showing a stable, long-term performance at high power output in presence of different cooling media. The new HR and EQ grades are tailored to combine high strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures with excellent creep strength and resistance against cooling media - outperforming standard polyamides and many other PPAs on the market.
The new hydrolysis resistant Ultramid Advanced T1300HG7 HR shows high chemical and dimensional stability in contact with many media such as glycol, thermal oil and water at temperatures of 130°C and more. It thus prolongs the service life of automotive parts in the cooling system, e.g. thermostat housings and oil inlets/outlets but also of pumps, valves and fittings in construction applications. In extensive tests the PPA successfully proved that it can withstand a continuous use temperature of 130°C for 1,000 hours, and even 3,000 hours, in a mixture of ethylene glycol and water.
The pure Ultramid Advanced T1300EG7 EQ hardly contains any electrically active ingredients, yet still offers excellent resistance to heat ageing in contact with water, hydrogen or high-purity cooling media such as Glysantin FC G20. Its thermal stability stretches from - 40°C to 100°C. This makes the PPA especially suited for e-mobility and fuel cell applications e.g. end plates, media distribution parts or humidifiers. These benefit from the PPA’s stable mechanical properties across varying temperatures during the whole lifetime (minimium requirement of 25,000 hours) of the electric vehicle. All BASF EQ grades are subject to special quality standards that cover raw material selection, the production process and the analysis of the halogen content. This leads to the material’s low electric conductivity and low ion/halogen migration into cooling media, thus preventing degradation of the components and finally electric failure in sensitive fuel cell stacks.
“Since we introduced our Ultramid Advanced T1000 in 2018, customers have relied on its outstanding property profile: It remains strong, no matter what temperatures or climates it is exposed to, and it is exceptionally resistant to humidity and chemicals”, says Marc Keller from global marketing PPAs at BASF. “With the new HR and EQ grades, we raise the bar even higher: We understand the increasing challenges of thermal management under harsh conditions for PPAs; and we enable our customers to meet these challenges while maintaining performance and safety of their applications.” In addition to the new high-performance HR and EQ grades, for parts that require laser-welding, Ultramid Advanced T1000 LT grades can be used which are hydrolysis resistant as well while being laser transparent.
