BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) has developed “Ultramid Advanced N5H UN”, a polyphthalamide (PPA) based on PA 9T that can be manufactured into semi-finished parts by extrusion. German company Gehr (Mannheim; www.en.gehr.de) is using the new high-performance material to produce extruded stock shapes with a diameter of 50 mm.

Philipp Wenz, group head in sales of BASF’s Performance Materials division, says polyphthalamides typically cannot be extruded well. As a result, Ultramid Advanced N5H fills a gap in the market. Gehr’s head of application technology, Bernhard Grosskinsky, notes the ease of producing finished components by post-processing the semi-finished shapes.

According to BASF, the new material offers good resistance to chemicals and hydrolysis as well as good sliding friction properties even at temperatures above 100°C. It is suitable for extruding pre-fabricated components, small assemblies and components for the automotive industry and in mechanical engineering. BASF says during machining, the behaviour of the semi-finished products is between a polyamide and a polyoxymethylene copolymer, showing consistent chip formation and removal.