The Performance Materials division of polymer producer BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) has launched a new injection moulding grade of engineering plastic in its “Ultrason E” product line. Now available globally, the new “Ultrason E0510 C2TR” polyethersulfone (PESU) material, which contains 10% carbon fibre-reinforcement, exhibits very good tribological properties, high oil resistance and excellent dimensional stability, the company says. The material is suited for automotive parts that come into contact with hot oil, such as oil pumps, oil control pistons, pressure valves and high-speed components in automatic or manual gearboxes.

BASF also says it is easy to process because of its low viscosity, while its very good flow properties allows for injection moulding of parts with a wall thickness of less than 1 mm without compromising stability, durability or oil resistance. The low coefficient of thermal expansion ensures parts are dimensionally stable and can withstand temperature changes between -30°C and 180°C without damage. The German group notes that Ultrason E0510 C2TR outperformed other tribologically optimised thermoplastics according to the ASTM G137 standard test method for ranking resistance of plastic materials to sliding wear.