Polymers with Low Water Absorption and their Applications - Nylacast

Polymers with lower water absorption

Machinery and components used within the marine and offshore industry are consistently faced with wear and corrosion due to operation in extreme conditions with constant exposure.

Therefore, many businesses are looking for alternative products that, not only provide low water absorption but also have a long lifeline and are cost-effective. Cast nylon meets all of these demands and offers numerous additional benefits. Proving extremely successful combatting these environments, Nylacast’s two specialist grades, NylaAquanyl 612 and Nylacast Moly have become increasingly popular part replacements.

Advantages of Nylacast’s low water absorption materials can include:

•  Lower whole life costs.
•  Improved dimensional stability.
•  Corrosion-resistant.
•  Reduced equipment weight, (typically being 1/7th of the weight of a steel product).
•  Self-lubricating properties, limiting the need for manual attention.
•  Specialist grades to suit individual requirements and applications.

Below are examples of our specialist grades they and the various engineered products available and how they can greatly benefit your applications that require water absorbency:

Aquanyl 612: 

Nylacast Aquanyl 612 offers the best solution for low water absorption. Aquanyl is a copolymer of Nylon 6 and Nylon 12 and provides great dimensional stability and impact strength. Aquanyl 612 is most common within the Offshore, Marine, Gas and Oil industries.

• Typical applications include Rollers, Thruster Nozzles, Sheaves, Pulleys, Pipe Clamps and Bushes. Nylacast Aquanyl 612 is available as standard plate or rod. We provide thousands of tube OD/ID configurations as well as custom casting and machined components.

Nylacast Moly: 

Nylacast Moly is a combination of Nylacast PA6C + molybdenum disulphide. This blend of polymers creates numerous advantages; alongside a low rate of water absorption, this grade offers improved wear, antifriction and compressive strength in addition to self-lubrication. Due to these beneficial properties, Nylacast Moly is perfect for offshore and marine environments.

• Applications include: Wear Strips, Bushes, Washers, Sheaves, Pulleys and Spooling Shells. Our Nylacast Moly grade can also be purchased in a standard plate, rod, tube and custom casting.
• Spooling Shells and Sheaves: Nylacast Moly spooling shells and sheaves are typically a 7th of the weight of tradition steel shells. By using our low weight, lubricated materials this minimises rope wear with the grooves requiring little or no lubrication. Again, low water absorption makes Nylacast Moly perfect for marine environments. All spooling shells and sheaves are custom made to suit application and customer demands.

To learn more about our leading range of engineered solutions widely used within the industry visit: Energy, Offshore, Oil & Gas.