NYLON

Nylon is the common name for Polyamide. It is the most common general purpose Bearing and Wear product in the Engineering Plastics family. Available in a variety of sizes and shapes due to the various processing options including casting and extrusion. Nylons are polymeric resins, formed by the condensation of dibasic organic acids with diamines into linear chains containing amide groups. They were developed in the classic researches for W.H. Carothers and introduced to the market in 1938 in the form of bristles and hosiery fibers.

Properties

Cast Nylon (Type 6) and Extruded Nylon (type 6/6) are the most common today. Cast Nylon can be poured into custom molds to make very large shapes. Extruded Nylons offer multitude of rod and sheet lengths and higher surface strength. It's higher moisture absorbtion rate than acetal (at saturation) can be a weakness in wet applications. In dry applications it typically outwears Acetal by a factor of 4 : 1. The common forms of nylon have fitted into their important and repidly growing uses because of a unique combination of desirable properties. They are stiff, strong, tough, light, abraion-resistant and self-extinguishing. They also possess a low coefficient of friction and are chemically and thermally resistant.

Applications

Nylon is more often used because of its combination of excellent properties than for any one single characteristic. For example, mechanical parts take advantage of this combination of properties and implimented in nylon gears and bushings used in household appliances, automobile speedometers, windshield wipers, etc.