DuPont Performance Polymers has designed a new online Polymer Advisor tool that can help plastics professionals narrow the choice of which high-performance thermoplastic family to consider when designing a new component or system.

The tool allows users to select from up to 10 critical performance properties, including temperature performance, stiffness, flexibility, conductivity, hydrolysis resistance, wear, and friction. Based on performance requirements, the tool evaluates and ranks 13 DuPont thermoplastic families from which to choose, including DuPont Zytel nylon, DuPont Hytrel TPC/ET, and DuPont Vespel parts and shapes.

During user testing, customers said that they could see how this tool would be useful in pointing specifiers in the right direction early in the design process, thus saving time or missteps. The Polymer Advisor helps material specifiers get closer to a good starting point prior to discussions with DuPont technical and development experts or reviewing technical data in the DuPont Product Profiler, according to a DuPont press release.

DuPont senior technical consultant Dan Saunders said, “This tool will be a quick reference for helping plastic professionals to match their performance requirements with products in the DuPont plastics portfolio. Selecting a material is a critical part of the application development process. Material performance and design attributes are best considered early in the design stage so design engineers can take full advantage of the benefits of using a thermoplastic material.”

In addition to the online tools, DuPont Performance Polymers provides expert support throughout the application development cycle, which includes materials selection, simulated design, predictive engineering, processing support, prototyping, and testing. (GK)