Swiss high-performance polymer producer Ems-Grivory (Domat; www.emsgrivory.com) has introduced a range of products for use in light-weight construction. The "Grivory XL products" are based on the partially aromatic polyamide (PA 6.6 / PA 6.1 / 6X), which is characterised by reduced moisture absorption and properties that change very little after conditioning. Grivory XL products have enhanced stiffness values – significantly higher than 35,000 MPa – compared with values of around 20,000 MPa for traditional thermoplastics. This stiffness, said Ems-Grivory, allows thinner-walled components and correspondingly shorter cycle times to be achieved.

A hybrid version reinforced with carbon and glass fibres has been developed and these grades are also available for long fibre-reinforced polyamides. Ems-Grivory said that due to their high E-modulus, the long fibre-reinforced products provide extremely low creep values, which are significantly below those of zinc die-cast metals. Endless-fibre tapes can also be used as reinforcement to increase the properties of Grivory XL products even further. In combination with aligned endless fibres in Ems Tape Technology (ETT), the grades display linear elastic behaviour like a spring with no plastic deformation at values up to and above 200 MPa.

Ems-Grivory said the Grivory XL range comprises a large spectrum of modifiable properties that can be adjusted to meet specific requirements.