Torlon Overview

With its versatile performance capabilities and proven use in a broad range of applications, Torlon polyamide-imide (PAI) shapes are offered in extruded, injection molded, and compression molded grades.

Torlon is the highest performing, melt processable plastic. It has superior resistance to elevated temperatures. It is capable of performing under severe stress conditions at continuous temperatures to 500°F (260°C). Parts machined from Torlon stock shapes provide greater compressive strength and higher impact resistance than most advanced engineering plastics (See Figure 22).

Torlon PAI's extremely low coefficient of linear thermal expansion and high creep resistance deliver excellent dimensional stability over its entire service range (see Figure 23). Torlon is an amorphous material with a Tg (glass transition temperature) of 537°F (280°C). Torlon stock shapes are post-cured using procedures developed jointly by BP Amoco and Quadrant. This eliminates the need for additional curing by the end user in most situations. A post-curing cycle is sometimes recommended for components fabricated from extruded shapes where optimization of chemical resistance and/or wear performance is required.

For large shapes or custom geometries like tubular bar, compression molded Torlon shapes offer designers the greatest economy and flexibility. Another benefit of selecting a compression molded grade is that resins are cured, or "imidized" prior to molding which eliminates the need to post-cure shapes or parts fabricated from compression molded shapes.

Popular extrusion and injection molding grades of Torlon are offered as compression molded shapes. Typically, you can identify a compression molded grade as having a second digit of "5" in the product name.