TPOs Cost 25% Less than Conventional Types and Provide Better Tactile and Mechanical Properties

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New-generation thermoplastic olefin (TPO) elastomers developed by Teknor Apex Company are drier and softer to t he touch than EPDM rubber-based TPOs, provide better mechanical properties and greater weathering resistance, and cost 25% less, the company announced today at NPE.

Tradenamed Telcar (Reg. Trademark) 1035, the new line of compounds includes seven grades with Shore A hardness values ranging, in increments of five, from 60 to 90. Each compound can be extruded, injection molded, or blow molded into gaskets, hoses, wea therstripping, hand grips, bellows, and other elastomeric products for automotive, construction, appliance, and industrial markets.

"These versatile Telcar products, which derive from advanced polymer chemistry and proprietary Teknor Apex compounding technology, represent a new resource for processors and OEMs seeking to cope with pressures to reduce costs without sacrificing product quality and long-term reliability," said Bertram Lederer, Group Vice President. "In fact, they actually deliver better performance and aesthetics than conventional TPOs of comparable hardness."

Telcar 1035 grades exhibit a dry "hand" and feel not found in competitive low-durometer TPOs, which feel especially tacky or oily at Shore A durometers of 70 or below. In natural form, Telcar 1035 compounds are translucent, facilitating pigmentation to match virtually any color.

According to Industry Manager Phil Morin, Telcar 1035 products provide a unique combination of outstanding physical properties and processing characteristics, including:

-- Higher strength compared to previous products. In a comparison of 65 Shore A hardness grades, for example, the Telcar compound exhibited a 36% greater tear strength value, 21% higher tensile strength, and 26% more elongation. "These compounds also e xhibit improved abrasion resistance for components subject to wear and friction," said Morin.

-- Improved weathering. "Unpigmented Telcar 1035 products withstand 1240.8 kJ/m2 of exposure under the SAE J1885 UV-resistance test method," Morin said. "In addition, they retain their mechanical properties at very low temperatures and have a brittle po int of
-60°C."

-- Processing versatility. With melt indices of 6 to 11 (at 230 °C/2160 gm), the new compounds are readily injection molded. In addition, they provide high melt strength for stable and consistent profiles in extrusion and parisons in blow molding. Tel car 1035 TPOs also exhibit good retention of physical and rheological properties after multiple extruder passes.