Roving designed for spray-up processing

Roving designed for spray-up processing

Material developed for lead-free solder LNP ENGINEERING Plastics, a GE Advanced Materials company based in Paxton, Pennsylvania, USA, has developed a ...

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Material developed for lead-free solder LNP ENGINEERING Plastics, a GE Advanced Materials company based in Paxton, Pennsylvania, USA, has developed a new grade of highheat connector materials made of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and designed to replace the brominated materials currently used in lead-free solder processing. The glass-reinforced grades – called THERMOCOMP® HT Solder composite and STARFLAM® – can resist the higher temperatures needed in the lead-free soldering process. The Thermocomp HT Solder UF-1006 and Thermocomp HT Solder ZF1006 compounds are made of a matrix of resin blends and 30% glass. The former is based on polyphthalamide (PPA) resin, while the latter features a matrix of modified-polyphenylene ether (MPPE). The Starflam Eco-Fr compounds are based on glass fibre reinforced PPA (high temperature polyamide), coupled with ECOFR technology. Starflam UF-

1003 is 15% glass reinforced while Starflam UF-1004 is 20% glass reinforced. Using lead solder in circuit technology can lead to the metal contaminating groundwater when electronic devices are incinerated or left to landfill, explains LNP Engineering Plastics. This is why many companies in the computer, telecommunications and datacommunications industries have turned to leadfree soldering techniques such as infrared (IR) reflow soldering. The company says that its new GRP grades will be suitable for this highertemperature type of soldering up to high heat distortion temperatures of 260°C or more. The materials are also formulated with a halogen-free, flame-retardant package that can be used in eco-label applications. Traditional use of halogenated flame retardants can release toxic and corrosive gases when burned. LNP Plastics; website: www.lnp.com.

Roving designed for spray-up processing JOHNS MANVILLE, based in Bad Homburg, Germany, is introducing MultiStar™ 819, an assembled roving designed for use in spray-up processing. The roving is said to have a special sizing and is characterized by ease of chopping, low fuzz and uniform splitting during chopping. It is applied as a reinforcement of unsaturated polyester resins and is claimed to achieve excellent performance in spray-up

technology, especially where smooth surfaces are required. Johns Manville says the roving also offers advantages such as fast wet-out, non-static charge and no entanglement during processing. The company’s Engineering Products Group also produces woven and nonwoven glass fibre and polyester spunbond products. Johns Manville; website: www.jm.com. May 2004

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