Ethan Clarke
Polyoxymethylene (POM) plastic is a widely used engineering material known for its high stiffness, strength, and flexibility. It is a strong and hard plastic, similar in strength to epoxy resins and polycarbonates, and is characterized by its high tensile, flexural, and compressive strength. POM exhibits low friction, which makes it suitable for use in gears, bearings, and other mechanical parts. Its low friction coefficient ensures the smooth operation of mechanical parts and contributes to its energy efficiency. The material's excellent chemical resistance, coupled with low moisture absorption, further enhances its durability and reliability in various applications, including automotive, consumer goods, and medical devices.
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What You'll Learn
POM plastic's low friction coefficient
POM plastic, also known as polyoxymethylene, is a widely used engineering plastic with a unique combination of mechanical properties. It has a low friction coefficient, which makes it a popular choice for various applications, especially in the automotive and consumer goods industries.
The low friction coefficient of POM plastic is one of its most advantageous features. This property allows for smooth and quiet operation of mechanical parts, making it ideal for gears, bearings, and other moving components. POM's low friction also contributes to its high durability and wear resistance, ensuring that it can withstand multiple cycles of mechanical stress without failing.
The mechanical properties of POM plastic include high strength, excellent flexibility, and good hardness. It exhibits high tensile strength, rated between 55 to 80 megapascals, enabling it to withstand significant pulling or lengthening forces without breaking. Additionally, POM has impressive flexural strength, ranging from 80 to 110 megapascals, which means it resists breakage under bending stress. Its compressive strength, measured between 140 and 180 megapascals, allows it to perform reliably under heavy loads.
POM plastic's unique characteristics make it a top choice for engineering and manufacturing purposes. Its high stiffness, excellent dimensional stability, and low moisture absorption further enhance its performance in various applications. POM is commonly used in automotive components such as fuel systems, door locks, and window guides, as well as in consumer goods like zippers, gears, and parts for appliances. Its strength and abrasion resistance also make it suitable for the construction of firearms and sporting goods.
In summary, POM plastic's low friction coefficient, coupled with its exceptional mechanical properties, makes it a highly versatile and indispensable material across multiple industries. Its ability to reduce friction while maintaining durability and stability has led to its widespread adoption in automotive, consumer goods, medical, and electronics sectors.
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POM's use in automotive parts
Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is a strong, hard engineering thermoplastic. It is used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. POM is a relatively strong plastic, nearly as strong as epoxy, or aluminium, but a bit more flexible. It is also characterised by its high strength, hardness, and rigidity to −40 °C.
POM's unique combination of wear resistance, chemical resistance, and dimensional stability makes it ideal for automotive parts. Its low friction and high mechanical strength enable automotive gears to function smoothly while reducing wear and tear over time. Unlike metals, POM gears do not require extensive lubrication, which helps in reducing maintenance costs. POM's electrical resistivity is 14×1015 Ω⋅cm, making it a dielectric with a 19.5MV/m breakdown voltage.
POM is also self-lubricating, which further enhances its performance in applications where parts must operate with minimal external lubrication. Its excellent chemical resistance makes it suitable for use in environments exposed to fuels, solvents, and other corrosive substances. This makes it ideal for automotive parts such as fuel system components and valve assemblies, which benefit from POM’s ability to withstand harsh chemical environments without degrading.
POM's mechanical properties are excellent, with a specific strength that can reach 50.5MPa and a specific stiffness of 2650MPa, which is very close to metal. The mechanical properties of POM change slightly with temperature, with the copolymerised POM changing slightly more than the homopolymerised POM. POM is also tough, with impact strength that can reach 35MPa.
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POM's strength and flexibility
POM plastic, also known as polyoxymethylene, is a versatile material with a unique combination of strength and flexibility. It is characterised by its high stiffness, hardness, and impact and fatigue resistance.
The tensile strength of POM plastic is rated between 55 to 80 megapascals, which means it can withstand significant pulling or lengthening forces without breaking. This property is particularly useful in applications such as ropes, fishing lines, and structural components. The flexural strength of POM plastic is also impressive, ranging from 80 to 110 megapascals, demonstrating its ability to resist breakage under bending forces. This makes it ideal for pipes and tubing.
POM plastic also exhibits good compressive strength, falling between 140-180 megapascals. This property enables it to withstand heavy loads without buckling, making it suitable for applications such as washing machine drums and plastic bottles. The flexural fatigue strength of POM plastic is another notable feature, allowing it to bend repeatedly without any loss of performance. This flexibility is advantageous in items that require repetitive flexion, such as toothbrushes and sporting goods.
The hardness of POM plastic, rated between Rockwell M85 and M100, provides excellent scratch and wear resistance. This property is essential for maintaining dimensional stability when in contact with metals. POM's strength and flexibility, coupled with its low friction coefficient, make it ideal for precision parts in automobiles, machinery, and consumer products. Its ability to withstand high loads and its chemical resistance to fuels, oils, and lubricants make it a popular choice for fuel pumps and automotive components.
Overall, POM plastic's balanced mechanical properties make it a highly adaptable and indispensable material across various industries, including automotive, consumer goods, and medical device manufacturing. Its unique combination of strength and flexibility, along with its hardness and low friction, contribute to its versatility and wide range of applications.
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POM's chemical resistance
Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is a strong and hard plastic with a density of 1.410–1.420 g/cm3. It is characterised by its high strength, hardness and rigidity up to temperatures of -40 °C. POM has a small friction coefficient, good wear resistance, high-limit PV value, and good self-lubrication. It is suitable for the production of friction products such as gears and bearings.
POM has excellent solvent resistance and can resist hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ethers, gasoline, lubricating oil, and weak alkalis. It can maintain considerable chemical stability at high temperatures. However, POM is not resistant to strong acids and oxidants, and only has certain stability towards dilute acids and weak acids. Its weather resistance is also poor; when exposed to ultraviolet light for long periods, its mechanical properties decrease, and its surface becomes chalked and cracked.
POM has a high impact strength and prominent fatigue strength. Its creep resistance is similar to that of PA, and it is only slightly affected by temperature changes. The mechanical properties of POM are excellent, with a specific strength of 50.5MPa and a specific stiffness of 2650MPa, which is very close to metal. The appearance of POM is light yellow or white translucent or opaque, with a smooth and shiny surface.
POM is a relatively strong plastic, nearly as strong as epoxy or aluminium, but with more flexibility. It is widely used in the automotive and consumer electronics industries for high-performance engineering components.
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POM's use in consumer goods
Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is an engineering thermoplastic with a wide range of applications in consumer goods. Its high strength, hardness, rigidity, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability make it ideal for various consumer products.
In the automotive industry, POM is used for manufacturing various parts, including gear wheels, ski bindings, fasteners, and lock systems. Its strength and low friction properties make it suitable for these applications. POM is also used in the electronics industry for producing parts such as eyeglass frames, ball bearings, and knife handles. The electrical insulation properties of POM are advantageous in electronic devices.
POM is also widely used in the healthcare industry due to its biocompatibility and chemical resistance. It is suitable for medical devices requiring tight tolerances and precision, such as surgical tools and implants. Additionally, POM's impact resistance and lightweight strength make it valuable in sporting goods and aerospace applications.
The versatility of POM extends to consumer goods such as model railway parts, fuel sender units, power windows, door lock systems, and articulated shells in vehicles. Its durability and attractive finish enhance its appeal in consumer products. Furthermore, POM's resistance to hydrocarbons, alcohols, and lubricating oils contributes to its applicability in various consumer goods sectors.
POM can be processed through injection molding, extrusion, and 3D printing technologies, making it a versatile material for manufacturing. Its unique properties, such as high strength and low friction, have revolutionized product design and manufacturing across industries.
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Frequently asked questions
POM, or Polyoxymethylene, is a widely applicable engineering plastic. It is strong, hard, stiff, and has low friction.
POM plastic is used in a variety of applications, including the automotive, consumer goods, and medical sectors. Some common uses include fuel system components, gears, zippers, insulin pens, and industrial machine parts.
POM plastic has several advantages, including high strength, excellent flexibility, good hardness, and low friction. It is also lightweight and has good dimensional stability.
One disadvantage of POM plastic is that it is not resistant to strong acids and oxidants. It also has poor weather resistance and can be affected by ultraviolet light.
