New Sliding Material for Structural Bearings Incorporates Mitsui Chemicals' PA6

MKSM® offers excellent wear resistance, a heat distortion temperature higher than 80ºC, and a very low coefficient of friction. Mitsui Chemicals provides the base polymers for this innovative alloy, which combines PA6 with UHMWPE and special additives. These components have been patented for this specific application.

MK4's structural bearings are widely used in construction and civil engineering, particularly in bridges. MKSM® effectively transfers very high static loads in bridges, thanks to its outstanding sliding behavior. This material facilitates displacements and allows a limited degree of rotation in all axes between the bearing-mounted elements and the base structure, especially in curved sliding elements.

Can Replace PTFE

Compared to semi-finished product UHMWPE and PTFE, this new sliding material offers enhanced thermal properties, abrasion and heat distortion resistance. Its longer service life, compressive strength, and lower sliding friction can make it possible to use smaller sliding bearings. It can also replace fluoropolymers such as PTFE, which are currently the focus of controversy.

The base sheet with a thickness of 8 mm ± 0.2 mm is manufactured on a horizontal calender-extruder system by the fabricator SIMONA, in Kirn, Germany. MK4 produces the finished product by cutting the sliding bearing sheets to size and drilling recesses for oil lubrication.

As Dreyplas' marketing director Norbert Hodrius explains, 'Where particular requirements have previously meant that there were no alternatives to using fluoropolymers such as PTFE, PVDF etc., this high-performance compound, which is now part of our portfolio, offers advantageous solutions in many cases. Developing special UHMWPE-based compounds of this kind is just one of the services we offer our customers. Our many years of experience and close cooperation with Mitsui Chemicals mean we can use our development and materials expertise to bring products with real added value to market in a short time, as in this joint project with Mekano4.'

Source: Dreyplas