PAEK is the acronym for polyaryletherketone. AvaSpire® PAEK is a versatile family of customized aromatic polyketones designed to fill cost and performance gaps between PEEK and other high-performance polymers.
AvaSpire® PAEK products are customized products that provide specific solutions for components used in Automotive, Aerospace, Oil & Gas, Healthcare and other demanding industries. Depending on the grade, AvaSpire® PAEK can show equivalent performance to PEEK while providing additional properties such as higher ductility, elongation, and retention of properties at high temperatures.
Differences in these families are a result of their specific polymer chemistries.
- AvaSpire® AV-600 series and AV-400 series products offer improved ductility and higher flexural and torsional modulus between 150°C (300°F) and 190°C (375°F) than comparable PEEK grades. They have lower crystallinity than PEEK, which gives them better dimensional stability and lower warpage.
- AvaSpire® AV-700 series products fill the cost/performance gap between ultra-performance crystalline polymers like PEEK and high-performance crystalline polymers like liquid crystal polymers (LCP), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), and polyphthalamide (PPA).
For more information, please consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
Syensqo’s AvaSpire® PAEK portfolio is based on different resin melt flows of AV-600, AV-400 and AV-700 product families and includes:
- Neat grades
- Glass fiber GF and carbon fiber CF reinforced grades
- Wear resistant SL grades (for both lubricated and non-lubricated uses)
For more information, please consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
Material Safety Datasheet can be obtained by contacting your Specialty Polymers Representative.
The natural color of AvaSpire® PAEK is beige.
No. Since PAEK is inherently flame retardant, AvaSpire® PAEK resins and compounds can achieve (depending on grade) a UL-94 V0 or V1 rating down to a 0.8-mm thickness without the use of flame retardant additives.
For more information, please consult our UL rating certifications.
AvaSpire® PAEK resins comply with the requirements of several governmental and/or regulatory agencies. Certification of every AvaSpire® grade is generally mentioned on individual Technical Datasheets. As regulatory action is an ongoing activity, please contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative for the latest information regarding a specific application requiring agency approval or recognition.
While the mechanical properties of metals are essentially unaffected by short-term exposure to water, the response of plastics varies considerably and is related to the polymer’s chemistry. PAEK resins and compounds do not absorb much water, and the water that is absorbed has very little effect on the material’s mechanical properties. Typical percent change in weight associated with water absorption after 24h immersion exposure is lower than 0.20%.
For more information, please consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
AvaSpire® PAEK is compatible with a wide variety of chemicals and end-use environments and is considered to be one of the most chemically-resistant polymers commercially available. This feature, along with the material’s exceptional heat stability, has made it attractive for applications in aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, medical, oil and gas, electrical, electronic, energy, and other industries. Results of several testing programs confirm the material’s broad chemical and environmental resistance in media such as organic solvents, acids and bases, boiling water, steam, industrial fluids, aircraft fluids, automotive fluids, sterilization conditions or outdoor weathering.
Please contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative for the latest information or other chemicals. Samples of pellets and several shapes of molded articles can be supplied for testing purposes.
For more information, consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
Several AvaSpire® PAEK grades comply with regulation 21 CFR177.2415; therefore, it is permitted by FDA for use as articles or components of articles intended for repeated use in contact with all types of food.
Several grades of AvaSpire® PAEK are also compliant with the EU directive 10/2011. Information on current listings for specific grades is available from your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative.
For both KetaSpire® PEEK and AvaSpire® PAEK, Syensqo offers a global channel of stock shapes producers and distributors. Contact your Specialty Polymers Technical Marketing representative to find the partner to best address your needs.
Nearly all polymeric materials exhibit some loss of performance properties after long-term exposure to elevated temperatures. Some of the property changes are the result of thermo-oxidative degradation, but not all property changes are the result of degradation.
TGA data clearly demonstrate that AvaSpire® PAEK is thermally stable to temperatures well above those recommended for processing the material or those expected in service.
From a processing standpoint, it is not good practice to allow resin to stagnate for prolonged periods of time at molding temperatures. Syensqo recommendations are the following:
- If the shut-down is of a short duration (one hour or less), empty the barrel and purge several shots before restarting.
- For shut-downs of several hours, the barrel temperatures should be reduced to 338°C (640°F) or less. The barrel should be heated to normal processing temperatures and purged with the resin before continuing.
- For extended shutdowns, empty the barrel of resin, purge completely with adequate compounds, turn off the barrel heaters, and allow the machine to cool to room temperature.
For more information, consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
Reduced Viscosity (RV), multi-shear melt viscosity and DSC measurements are commonly used to determine the level of polymer degradation. For more information or assistance, contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative.
The maximum recommended moisture level for processing AvaSpire® PAEK depends on the processing technology to be used.
- For injection-molding, maximum recommended moisture level is 500 ppm. Moisture levels can be checked using a conventional loss in weight analyzer. The test conditions for analysis should be 200°C (400°F) for 10 minutes or until moisture is no longer evolved. AvaSpire® PAEK resins must be dried before processing. This can be accomplished in a desiccated oven maintaining a dew point of -40°C (- 40°F) at 150°C (302°F) for at least four hours.
- For extrusion, maximum recommended moisture level is 200 ppm. Since extrusion is a low-pressure forming process, resin that is not dried properly can result in a foamed or blistered extrudate.
For more information, consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
There are several test methods you can use to determine the quality of a molded AvaSpire® PAEK part. As an example, a DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) analysis is frequently used to measure the crystallinity of a molded part. Also, a comparison of the RV (Reduced Viscosity) of a molded part to that of dried AvaSpire® PAEK pellets is a quick and robust method to determine if the polymer has been degraded or damaged during the molding process. Several other investigations and tests can be performed on molded parts in our specialized labs. Please contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative for further information or assistance.
For more information, consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
Because it is not good practice to allow resin to stagnate during processing for prolonged periods of time at molding temperatures, Syensqo recommends the following:
- If the shut-down is for one hour or less, empty the barrel and purge several shots before restarting.
- If the shut-down is for more than one hour, the barrel temperatures should be reduced to 338°C (640°F) or less. The barrel should be heated to normal processing temperatures and purged with the resin before continuing.
- For extended shutdowns, empty the barrel of resin, purge completely with appropriate and adequate compounds, turn off the barrel heaters, and allow the machine to cool to room temperature.
For more information, consult the AvaSpire® PAEK Design and Processing guide.
Syensqo provides a wide range of sample pellets and molded shapes for testing purposes. Stock shapes or other thick-walled, semi-fabricates for machining prototype parts are not offered due to the complexity of the practical aspects of cooling such parts fast enough to prevent the material from being degraded at the inner core of thick sections. Please contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative for further information.
Syensqo’s most commonly used AvaSpire® PAEK grades are fully characterized to run FEA analyses. Data are available for most commercial rheological software. For specific customer requests, please contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative for further information.
Quasi-static, dynamic, anisotropic (Digimat) analyses are a daily routine for the global CAE team. For specific projects, impact, fatigue and creep calculations can also be evaluated. Please contact your Specialty Polymers Customer Technical Development Representative for further information.