Ticona has accomplished the perfect replacement for coated components with Hostaform POM MetaLX with a high-quality metal effect as the required finish. A special process with an innovative specialty grade of the copolymer now also permits implementation of high-speed moldings without weld lines and cold spots.
Hostaform POM MetaLX ensures cost and time optimized production with an integrated metal effect: Because the appearance required is already present thus dispensing with the need to paint or coat components made of this material; even vacuum metallization is no longer necessary. These costly and labor intensive working steps can be dispensed with. This POM grade is ideally suited for applications such as the interior of automobiles, electrical appliances or medical technology.
This copolymer now shines with a further distinctive feature. employees in the Technology & Service Department at Ticona succeeded in completely eliminating weld lines and flow-induced cold spots in the gate area in high-speed injection molding applications.
Their remedy: Variotherm mold optimization. high temperatures of up to 180°C are applied to the molds for a brief time and then they are completely cooled.
Such brief and strong heating cannot be achieved conventionally with hot steam or heating cartridges; instead inductive heating or ceramic heating is used. Ticona collaborates with system suppliers for such special processes; in this case for example with the Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid (K.I.M.W.) and the temperature control specialist GWK (both in Germany) as well as RocTool from France who has developed the patented CageSystem.
As well as preventing weld lines and cold spots, this process led to a useful side effect: The higher mold wall temperature changed the otherwise matte sur- face of hostaform POM MetaLX into a brilliant one. But design freedom is not restricted: A matte surface is also possible in the cavity due to a corresponding surface grain (etching). Further advantages of this high-performance polymer: It does not show any tendency towards stress cracking; resists chemicals such as those in cockpit cleaners and has good slip/friction properties in con-tact with other polymers. Superior properties combined with costefficiency and maximum design freedom – hostaform POM MetaLX ensures brilliant prospects in various applications.
