Vectra® LCP

Processing
Vectra LCPs can be processed using common injection molding and extrusion techniques. Fast cycles, conventional processing and the possibility of blending with up to 50% regrind make for high cost effectiveness. Because of the material’s good flow properties and low tendency to form flash, long, thin-walled parts can be produced.

Structure
A characteristic feature of liquid crystal polymers is their molecular structure. These polymers consist of rigid, rod-like macromolecules, which align in the melt to produce liquid crystal structures. If a liquid crystal polymer melt is subjected to shear or stretching flow, as is the case in all thermoplastic processing operations, then the rigid macromolecules order themselves into fibers and fibrils, which are frozen when the melt cools. This is how the specific morphology of liquid crystal polymers in the solid state is formed.

Properties
The rigid, rod-like polymer structure results - compared to conventional polymers - in a decisive improvement of the mechanical property profile, especially parallel to the direction of orientation, and a number of other exceptional properties:

• operating temperatures up to 240°C, temporarily up to 300°C
• very low melt viscosity
• very narrow tolerances possible (up to tolerance class T6)
• very low heat of fusion (extremely short cycle times possible)
• flash-free quality with injection moulding
• very high tensile strength (up to 185 MPa) and very high elastic module (up to 30 000 MPa)
• high impact-resistance
• very low linear thermal expansion coefficient, comparable to that of steel and ceramics
• inherently flame retardant (UL 94 V-0, partly 5 VA)
• very good chemical and oxidation resistance
• very low water absorption

Tensile strength and stiffness increase in flow direction proportionally to the degree of melt orientation. Thus these numbers are higher in thin-walled objects than in those with thick walls.

The Vectra LCP properties that are influenced by the high molecule orientation show a high degree of anisotropism. This means that solidity and rigidity are significantly higher decidedly greater in the direction of orientation than accrossing it, and the thermal coefficient of linear expansion is higher in a perpendicular direction to the orientation than parallel to it. This anisotropism can be reduced substantially by the use of filling or reinforcement materials and so brought to a level that is comparable to other fibre-reinforced polymers.

Grades
The wide range of Vectra LCP injection molding grades is built up on a variety of basic polymers that differ in regard to melting points, heat resistance, strength and flow capacities. Manifold variations of filling and reinforcement materials (glass and carbon fibers, minerals, graphite, PTFE and combinations of thereof) allow the adaption of these basic polymers to the requirements of many areas of application.

Applications
Vectra LCP is applied for the manufacture of electrical and electronic components, of connecting parts in fiber optics, of telecommunication devices, of chemical processing machines, of medical devices, in the automobile and machine construction industries, as well as the field of air- and spacecraft technology.

Vectra LCP is produced through an ion-free polycondensation process. This makes Vectra LCP especially suited for applications in the electronics sector, where often ion concentrations of less than 5 ppm are required.

Many molded parts that so far have been made from metal, thermosets, and a number of other thermoplastics, can be manufactured efficiently and economically using Vectra LCP.

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