What is a Polyamide compound (PA)?
Polyamide compounds (PAs) are thermoplastic polymers and they occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamide compounds are wool and silk. Polyamides can be aliphatic, semi-aromatic or fully aromatic thermoplastics. The aromatic polyamides (e.g. Kevlar), have higher strength, better solvent, flame and heat resistance and greater dimensional stability than aliphatic polyamides (e.g. Nylon), but they are much more expensive and more difficult to produce.
Properties of Polyamide compounds
The typical polyamide compound has excellent mechanical properties including high tensile strength, high flexibility, good resilience, low creep and high impact strength (toughness). They are easy to dye and exhibit excellent resistance to wear. They also have good resistance to oils, bases and many solvents.
What are Polyamide compounds typically used for?
Polyamide compounds (PAs) are used in almost every industry and market, they are commonly used in textiles, automotive industry, carpets, kitchen utensils and sportswear due to their high durability and strength. Polyamides are for example used in the automotive industry, for wire and cable jacketing, cooling fans, air intake, turbo air ducts, valve and engine covers, brake and power steering reservoirs, gears for windshield wipers and speedometers. Polyamides are also used for power tool housings, valves and vending for various machines and pumps and for many electrical parts including switches, sockets, plugs and antenna-mounting devices. More than 60 percent of the aliphatic polyamides produced are used in commercial fiber applications (this includes carpets, garments, seatbelts, upholstery, ropes and tire reinforcements).
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