polymerguru

From April 21 to 24, Arkema will attend Chinaplas 2026, at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. As demand for sustainable consumption and industrial transformation continues to grow, Arkema will be showcasing its expertise in five key sectors: lifestyle, mobility, cutting-edge manufacturing, industry, and polymer additives. Backed by a well-established and highly mature local supply network, Arkema is well positioned to support the fast-expanding and increasingly diverse markets across Asia and beyond. At this year’s exhibition, Arkema is showcasing specialty material solutions that span multiple key market sectors, including new mobility, sports and leisure, consumer electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, water treatment, and polymer production. These materials combine outstanding properties such as high durability, lightweight performance, bio-based content, recyclability, and precision efficiency, empowering customers to confidently address evo...

  𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 ⚙️ 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐭 Every extruder speaks the same language; torque, pressure, and temperature but each polymer cooks at its own pace. Rush XLPE and it burns. Hold EVA too long and it curdles. Get the heat, timing, or mixing wrong, and you’re not running cable, you’re scraping the screw like someone cleaning the oven after a failed bake. Here’s how the main cable compounds behave when you put them under heat and pressure: ▪️ Crosslinking Polyethylenes (XLPE, Semicon) Peroxide or silane-based PE systems that demand discipline. LV XLPE runs hot (165–185 °C) because it crosslinks after extrusion. MV/HV XLPE runs cool (110–130 °C) so it doesn’t harden before hitting the nitrogen tube at 400°C. High-compression screw (2.5–3.5:1) keeps melt uniform. Lose control of heat or residence time and you get gels (pre crosslink) a chemistry that finished before you want...

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝. Many components don’t fail because of one large force… they fail because of many small repeated loads. This is known as fatigue. A part can operate within its strength limits and still fail after thousands or millions of cycles due to repeated stress. Common examples include: • Steel shafts in rotating equipment • Aluminum aircraft structures exposed to continuous vibration and pressure cycles • Springs that compress and release thousands of times during their service life In these cases, failure is not caused by a single overload, but by the progressive accumulation of microscopic damage over time. That’s why good engineering considers not only static strength, but also how materials behave under cyclic loading. Many engineering failures are not sudden events — they are the result of small stresses repeated m...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Why Carbon Fiber Tow Strength ≠ Woven Fabric Strength ？ Carbon fiber is famous for its incredible tensile strength. But did you know that the fibers in a woven fabric don’t perform the same as the raw fiber tow they’re made from? Here’s why: Tow: straight, parallel fibers → maximum tensile performance Woven Fabric: fibers bend and cross (crimp), some misaligned → strength reduced UD (Unidirectional) Fabric: fibers aligned in one direction → highest structural performance Spread Tow Fabric: flattened, less crimp → better strength than conventional woven while retaining drapability and lightweight advantages ✅ Key takeaway: Understanding the differences between tow, woven, UD, and spread tow fabrics is crucial for composite design, lightweight structures, and high-performance applications. Choosing the right form of carbon fiber depends on your design priorities: strength, stiffness, drapability, appearance, or impact resistance. There is no “best” form—only t...

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 When a plastic component fails by cracking, its fracture surface tells the story of how and why it broke if you know how to read it. This guide outlines key procedures and considerations for conducting failure analysis of plastic components through microscopic inspection, drawing on traditional fractography while emphasising the material-specific characteristics of polymers and plastics. 🔍  Key microscopic features in faulty plastic parts: • Mirror Zone, Mist & Hackle: The classic brittle fracture "fingerprint" that points you directly to the origin. • Conic Marks (Parabolas): Often the smoking gun, these curves point back to a initiating defect like a contaminant or void. • Ductile Stretching & Fibrils: Tell-tale signs of overload and yielding. • Fatigue Striations: Found un...