At present, UHMWPE has been widely used in textile, paper, packaging, transportation, writing, chemical, mining, petroleum, construction, electrical, food, medical, sports and other fields, and has begun to enter the field of conventional weapons, ships, automobiles and so on. In the future, it will expand to areas such as aerospace and atomic energy.
Wear-resistant and impact-resistant applications
1.1, textile machinery
Textile machinery was the earliest application field of UHMWPE. As early as 1958, several companies used UHMWPE to manufacture textile machinery parts, such as the leather knot on the loom made of the most durable buffalo in the tough material, with 40-180 times/ Min long-term vibration shock, its life can reach 5 to 6 times of buffalo knot. At present, there are about 30 UHMWPE parts applied to each loom in foreign countries, such as shuttle pickers, shuttle sticks, gears, couplings, sweeping rods, buffer blocks, rod bushings, swinging back beams and other impact-resistant wear parts. .
1.2, paper machine
The paper machine is the second industrial field of UHMWPE. In 1960, the UHMWPE wear strip was installed for the first time on the conveyor of a wood chipper, which provided good protection for the bottom plate and the chain. Basically no wear. It is estimated that the life of the wear strip is more than double that of the chain. UHMWPE and wear-resistant materials such as stainless steel, maple, cast polyurethane and laminated phenolic plastic are used as the cover of the suction box, but important The resistance of the UHMWPE cover to the stainless steel wire mesh on the suction box is much lower than that of other materials, thus extending the service life of the expensive stainless steel dead wire. Today, the paper industry needs 10% of the total UHMWPE, such as the wiper board of the paper machine made of UHMWPE, the suction box cover, compacted parts, joints, etc. In addition, UHMWPE can also be used to manufacture the sealing shaft of paper machine. , partial guide wheels, scrapers, filters and other components.
1.3, packaging machinery
UHMWPE’s high wear resistance, low friction factor and non-stick properties make it more suitable for certain metals and other plastics in packaging machinery and can replace phosphor bronze and fluoroplastics.
Replacing the modified fluoroplastic with UHMWPE to make the guide rail, the slider seat of the conveyor, the fixing plate, etc., not only greatly reduces the investment cost of the equipment, but also prolongs the service life by 10 to 50 times.
The chronograph star wheel on a liquid detergent production line device replaces the original laminated thermosetting plastic with UHMWPE, which solves the problem of easy wear and tear, easy to scratch the bottle and is easy to soften, greatly reducing the cost of spare parts, and is manufactured by UHMWPE. The timing screw has also been used as a standard part on many bottling lines.
A large brewery in the West, using UHMWPE to make a 1.6km long strip belt conveyor belt, is several times more durable than a belt made of phosphor bronze.
On the conveyor line of a foreign automobile assembly plant, the chain drive sprocket moves the trolley on the steel plate conveying platform. Due to the friction between the chain and the steel plate, the chain is easily damaged. The replacement of steel plates with UHMWPE sheets results in significantly reduced wear and reduced power consumption.
1.4, general machinery
Due to its excellent wear resistance and impact resistance, UHMWPE is widely used in the mechanical manufacturing industry to produce a variety of gears, cams, impellers, rollers, pulleys, bearings, bushings, bushings, shafts, gaskets, Mechanical parts such as gaskets, elastic couplings, and screws.
Self-lubricating and non-sticking applications
2.1, material storage and transportation
UHMWPE can be used to make hoppers, silos, and chutes for powdered materials such as coal, cement, lime, mineral powder, salt, and grain. Because of its excellent self-lubricity and non-stickiness, the above-mentioned powdery materials can be used. No adhesion to the storage and transportation equipment is ensured, and stable transportation is ensured.
The hoppers of coal, mineral powder, grain, etc. used to be packaged and transported with stainless steel lining. Now UHMWPE lining is used. When used for a long time, the heat can be reduced. The hopper of Baosteel transporting ore uses UHMWPE, which is longer than the original metal material. Increase by 10 to 50 times. UHMWPE is used to make the hopper lining for easy construction and low cost. Therefore, the UHMWPE lining is also used for the hopper of coal transportation in large power plants.
The coal chute of the coal yard is made of UHMWPE, which reduces the angle of inclination and thus increases the amount of production. It transports 400,000 tons of coal without changing the trough, and its service life is twice as high as that of the magnesium alloy.
UHMWPE is used for solid conveying pipelines such as flowing sand. Compared with steel pipes, the life is increased by 18 times, the cost is reduced to 1/25, the life is increased by 3 times compared with nylon pipes, and the cost is reduced to 1/8. When transporting, the resistance inside the pipe is 25% smaller than that of the metal pipe, which greatly improves the conveying efficiency.
In the case of chutes, buckets and linings of ore cars, when using traditional metal materials, in cold and humid weather, the material will freeze on the metal, but UHMWPE will not, which greatly reduces the unloading time. After lining a layer of UHMWPE sheet on the dumping funnel of the bulk carrier, the average unloading time was reduced from 16 to 20 hours to 8 hours.
2.2 Agriculture, Construction Machinery
UHMWPE is excellent in self-lubricating properties. The soil is easy to slide on its surface without sticking, and its impact resistance and wear resistance are excellent. It is suitable for the production of agricultural and construction machinery parts. For example, the sliding plate of the combine harvester, the outer lining of the plow, the squeegee of the backhoe, the lining of the shovel bucket, and the lining of the dump truck can greatly improve work efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
2.3 cultural and sports goods
UHMWPE’s self-lubricating and wear resistance and cold resistance can be used for skating and snowboard bottoming. UHMWPE is mainly used in Europe and America. Ski slopes (20mm thick) are covered with UHMWPE, and the maximum speed of skateboard can reach 110km/h.
The UHMWPE ice skating rink manufactured by Mitsui Petrochemical Co., Ltd. was opened in Kagoshima County in 1975, and its cost is 1/4 of that of a general skating rink.
Application based on corrosion resistance and non-absorbency
UHMWPE has excellent chemical stability and non-absorbability. It can be used as a surfacing material for various solution storage devices and large packaging containers such as floats, water tanks, gasoline tanks, pesticide containers, and water repellent containers for solar energy equipment. This is also one of the most widely used areas of UHMWPE.
UHMWPE containers have excellent drop impact strength. If the container is filled with water 20kg and dropped from a high altitude to a 10mm thick iron plate, the damage height of the ordinary polyethylene container is only 9M, and the UHMWPE container can be as high as 15M or more.
Hygienic non-toxic applications
4.1, food and beverage industry
UHMWPE is non-toxic, water resistant and non-adhesive as required by the food industry. Designated as a material that can be used directly in contact with food. It can be used in conveyor lines for beer, refreshing drinks, condiments, etc. When conveying articles, it can prevent breakage of bottles and the like, reduce noise, reduce wear of conveyor belts, conveying screws, etc., and reduce power loss. It can also be used to make parts for meat, milk, and candied fruit and bread food production equipment.
4.2, medical
UHMWPE has excellent physiological inertia and physiological adaptability. It can be used in the fields of medical contact with human body, such as heart valve, orthopedic parts, artificial joints and birth control implants, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture. The clinical use of body is an ideal medical polymer material. The artificial hip and knee joint made of UHMWPE wrist and metal femur has better wear resistance and safety than PTFE. Hundreds of thousands of people in the world have accepted the replacement of such artificial joints.
other apps
5.1, low temperature resistance application
UHMWPE has excellent low temperature resistance, can be used in various refrigeration machines, and can be used as a low temperature resistant component in the nuclear industry. It is an ideal insulating material in the field of low temperature superconductivity. UHMWPE has excellent shielding effect on radiation, so it can be used as atomic energy.
The shield of the power station.
5.2, electrical insulation performance application
UHMWPE has good electrical insulation properties, especially low dielectric loss tangent. It can be used in the manufacture of plating baths, rollers and insulators, insulating trailers, cable ducts, short circuits, cable terminals and others operating in the high frequency and ultra high frequency range. Electrical installation.