改性尼龙按介质选型索引:工况表里介质没写清,耐字就悬空

应用领域 发布时间: 2026-09-16 4563 阅读

237 Modified Nylon Selection Index by Media

Let's start by sharing a live experience

Two years ago, I received a hotline call with a tone full of anger: You said PA66 is oil-resistant, but our gears have been soaked in gear oil for two months, how did they rot? When I sent the sample over to check, the problem wasn't the oil resistance itself—the oil temperature of that device was always above 110 degrees, and the additives in high-temperature oil would accelerate the hydrolysis reactions of nylon, so the room temperature oil resistance data was completely nullified here.

In the end, the phone solved the problem: switched to a high-temperature system. But this call made me decide to write a separate article about the medium line, because too many customers have made mistakes in choosing the medium, and the methods are almost the same: using room temperature data to answer questions about high temperature or long-term soaking.

Water and oil are the two types of media we deal with most often, but also the two most misunderstood. People say nylon is afraid of water, but the kettle handles use modified nylon; Everyone says nylon is oil-resistant, but the previous case was just about getting stuck in oil. What's the difference? It's in temperature, time, and concentration.

This index lays out six types of media—water and hot water, oil and fat, acid and base, organic solvents, salt spray and seawater, food and contact with the human body—one by one, clearly explaining under what conditions are safe, under which systems need to be changed, and under which conditions must be tested.

Finally, it also provides methods for checking the medium, which is a table you can fill out as follows: media name, concentration, temperature, contact duration, and whether there is stress. After filling out this form, you can contact any material supplier, and the answer will be much more accurate than just asking about oil resistance.

Medium 1: Water and hot water

Cold water (room temperature) :P A66 can be used, but be mindful of dimensional changes caused by moisture absorption. Hot water (60-80°C): must use hydrolysis-resistant PA66 (with carbodiimide terminator). High-temperature water (> 90°C) cannot hold :P A66, so use PA12, PPS, or PPSU.

Key reminder: PBT and PET are not resistant to hydrolysis of hot water—many people mistakenly think they are water-resistant because they do not absorb water, but the opposite is true. Special attention should be paid to dishwashers, water heaters, and cooling systems.

Medium 2: Oil and grease

Mineral oil and hydraulic oil: PA66 has good oil resistance and is the most commonly used choice. Fuel (gasoline, diesel) :P A66 is better than PE and PP, commonly used in tanks and pipes. However, antistatic agents must be added—static spark points and fuel gases pose real risks.

Grease: PA is resistant to grease, but it will lose at high temperatures, so self-lubricating modification should be considered. Note: Rising oil temperature accelerates PA aging; oil above 80°C should be checked under high-temperature conditions.

Medium 3: Acids and bases

This is PA's weak point—amide bonds accelerate hydrolysis under acidic and alkaline conditions. Weak acids and weak bases (pH 5-9): Hydrolysis-resistant PA66 is acceptable. Strong acids and bases: PA is not usable; PP, PVDF, or PPS are used.

Special reminder: Alkaline environments are most sensitive to PA corrosion—detergent pH 10-12, so dishwasher parts require special attention. PP actually outperforms PA in acidic and alkaline environments, which many people don't know.

Medium 4: Organic solvent

Alcohols (ethanol, ethylene glycol):P A swell in alcohols; long-term exposure requires evaluation—liquid cooling systems must use hydrolyzable grade of ethylene glycol solution. Ketones and esters: PA resistance is average and needs specific verification. Aromatic hydrocarbons and halogenated hydrocarbons: PA has good tolerance.

General principle: Plastics will swell to some extent in organic solvents; the key is whether their performance remains within acceptable ranges after swelling.

Medium 5: Salt spray and seawater

Salt spray itself does not significantly erode the PA matrix but does corrode glass fiber—alkali metal ions in the fiberglass precipitate, reducing reinforcement. Coastal and offshore applications: use hydrolysis-resistant glass fibers (alkali-free or low-alkaline fibers) or directly choose PPS.

Additionally, add weather-resistant systems—high UV dosage at sea. Outdoor + salt spray + UV is a triple test.

An order saved by a troubleshooting checklist

Last year, a customer who made coffee machines had steam valve sealing seats that failed within half a year. The previous supplier tried three types of materials but couldn't solve the problem. The customer is already considering switching to metal parts, which will increase costs by 60%. After we got involved, we didn't rush to push the material. First, we had the customer fill out the media inspection form: the media are water and steam, the nominal temperature is 100 degrees, the contact time is four hours per day, and assembly stress is present. Halfway through filling out the

form, the problem became clear—the nominal 100 degrees is the boiler outlet temperature, but the actual temperature at the sealing seat was measured at 128 degrees, which the customer never measured themselves. After the temperature correction, the selection jumped from ordinary reinforced PA66 to the high-temperature range, and the pre-tensioned assembly structure was slightly modified to reduce stress concentration. The improved validated parts have been running for a year and a half without any increase in failure rate.

I often tell new colleagues about this case because its conclusion is simple: the medium problem is almost never the medium itself, but the medium plus the temperature you haven't measured or calculated the stress. This is the value of the checklist—it forces everyone to fill in the variables one by one. Once the variables are complete, the answer will emerge on its own.

Medium 6: Food and Human Body

Food contact: Must have GB 4806.7, FDA 21 CFR, EU 10/2011 certification. Not all PAs have food-grade grades; you must check the specific grade certificate. Human contact (medical): ISO 10993 and USP Class VI.

These two categories are not about "performance," but about "compliance"—if it's non-compliant, it can't be marketed, and no matter how good the performance is, it's useless.

Cost Perspective on Media Selection

This media chart is used in deep waters, and you inevitably encounter a topic: the cost of modifying the system for the medium. Jumping from PA66 to high-temperature systems can double the unit price; Switching from ordinary material to hydrolysis-resistant grades costs a few more yuan per kilogram. How do you balance this? Our suggestion is to calculate the exposure area and replacement cost: the size of the part in contact with the medium, and the cost to replace it once after failure.

A small clip weighing a few grams is only a few yuan more expensive to wrap with expensive materials, so there's no need to worry about it; For a casing weighing just a few kilograms, the failure probability and consequences must be carefully calculated. The ultimate goal in media selection is not the most durable material, but the most cost-effective solution throughout the entire lifecycle. This principle is set here for everyone hesitating about the table.

Methods for media troubleshooting

Three steps: Step one: Make a full media list—including media used, cleaning media, and media that come into accidental contact; Step two: Check compatibility tables—each material manufacturer has a chemical compatibility sheet, check by specific chemical, not by general category;

Step three: perform soaking verification—soak at actual temperature and concentration, and measure strength retention and dimensional changes after soaking. Step three is the most reliable; the compatibility chart can only be used for preliminary screening.

Engineering Testing: 4 mandatory tests

Test 1: Hot water. PBT/PET is not resistant to hydrolysis by hot water; PA can be treated with anti-hydrolysis agents—counterintuitive but important.

Test 2: Alkaline. Detergent pH 10-12 causes significant corrosion to PA—pay attention to dishwashers.

Test 3: Salt spray. Corrodes glass fibers rather than substrates—use hydrolysis-resistant glass fibers at the beach.

Test 4: Food. You must check the certification for specific grades, not by material type.

boundary declaration

operating conditionsrecommended materials
room temperature waterPA66 (pay attention to dimensions)
60-80°C; hot waterhydrolysis-resistant PA66
> 90°C Hot WaterPA12 / PPS / PPSU
OilPA66 (Anti-static)
Strong Acid/AlkaliPP / PVDF / PPS
Food MedicalCheck Specific Grade Certification

Engineering Memo

Medium Index: Hot water uses hydrolysis-resistant PA, strong acids and alkalis use PP/PPS, oil uses PA, food medical check brand certificate. PBT is not resistant to hot water, which is a common misconception.

Practical Case: Common pitfalls and correct answers

Pitfall 1: Found conclusions based on medium selection but didn't check applicable conditions, and directly applied them incorrectly. Every quick reference sheet has premises; conclusions that deviate from the premise are wrong. Correct answer: When you see a conclusion, first look for the conditions that hold it—temperature, medium, time, load type. Only use it when all four are complete.

Pitfall 2: Blindly copying others' mold selections without considering your own process capability. The same material produces different results with different equipment and molds. Correct answer: Choose based on your own process level, avoid materials beyond the equipment's capacity. Pitfall 3: Use the quick reference table as the final basis, without actual verification. Correct answer: The quick reference table is used to narrow the scope; ultimately, sample verification is necessary.

Extended judgment: The most easily missed hidden variable

In mass production accidents based on material selection, half of them are not due to wrong material selection but because the hidden variable was not controlled.

The first variable is moisture content. For PA-based materials, the actual moisture content is determined by factory moisture content, drying conditions, and storage time before injection molding. If the moisture content is incorrect, strength and appearance will change.

The second variable is mold temperature. If the mold temperature is 20°C lower, the surface float fiber and weld strength may differ by half.

The third variable is the time after assembly. Torque, size, and seal compression amount after 24 hours and 30 days after installation are all different.

None of these three variables are listed in the physical property table, but they are all written in the failure report.

Writing these three things into a single sheet and sending it to suppliers is more useful than making ten phone calls—since the communication costs for media selection and material selection are basically spent on repeated confirmation of these items.

Four Media Q&A questions

Q: Where is the most reliable place to check media resistance data? Suppliers' chemical resistance tables combined with third-party immersion data are cross-referenced. Single-source tolerance tables mostly contain short-term data at room temperature; be sure to add tests yourself in long-term high-temperature scenarios.

Question: Does concentration have a significant impact on tolerance? The impact can be very large. For the same acid, dilute and concentrated solutions are completely different in their aggressiveness to nylon. When checking the table, concentration and temperature must match your working conditions; checking any difference is pointless.

Question: How is the mixed medium evaluated? Component analysis and actual testing are used for confirmation. For mixed media like cleaning agents and cutting fluids, additives often have more aggressiveness than the main components. Paper evaluations can only provide a safety net, and actual soaking verification is the final standard.

Question: What is the material selection order for food contact parts? Compliance is determined first, then performance. Grades with food contact certification are first screened out, and those with matching performance are selected from the qualified list. Conversely, selecting performance first and then adding certifications will likely require starting over.

Sample of Filling Out the Troubleshooting Form

How to fill out the Medium Inspection Form? Here's an example. A customer sent a valve sealing ring for a quote. The form we gave was filled out like this: Medium name—circulating cooling water, added corrosion inhibitor; Concentration—based on supplier ratio, but specific composition is unclear; Temperature—nominal room temperature, note that in summer, the machine room can reach 45 degrees;

Contact duration—year-round immersion; Stress state—flange compression, compressive stress. With just this one table, three improvement points automatically emerged: the corrosion inhibitor ingredients must be obtained, 45 degrees in summer should be calculated based on actual conditions, and the compressive stress must be clearly inquired. Later, the actual test showed the machine room water temperature was 52 degrees, and the corrosion inhibitor contained amines. If either of these two conditions was missed, the selected material would have problems. The table wasn't difficult; the hard part was that each compartment was detailed and measured values accurately, not nominal .

How to perform immersion tests to count values

Medium selection ultimately falls into soaking tests; how to conduct tests to count is a set of methods. Samples use real products or test pieces made with the same process; do not use comparison sheets with different injection molding conditions; different stress states can lead to biased conclusions. Use real materials from operating conditions as media; coolant should be from the production line buckets, not pure water substituted.

Set temperature according to the actual peak value, then set an accelerator group with one level plus 10 degrees. The time is calculated by lifespan, with a minimum soaking life of eight weeks per year, and during the process, measurements were taken at points to measure the three changes in weight, dimensions, and mechanics. The most crucial point is stress control: one set of free immersion, one set mounted on fixtures with assembled stress bubbles. Many media stress cracks are only visible on the latter.

The test report ends with a clear description of the four elements: medium, temperature, duration, and stress. Without these four elements, the report will be useless in the future.

Media Issues' Veto-Item

Media Investigation After years of investigation, we have formed several veto items internally, which I will share directly. In high-temperature environments with strong alkalis, ordinary nylon is directly rejected, no need to discuss the concentration level; For parts subjected to long-term water immersion and stress, ordinary non-hydrolysis-resistant systems are excluded; For working conditions where the medium composition is unclear, no plans are prepared before actual testing.

These three points may seem conservative, but behind each one lies a real compensation case. Choosing the medium allows for risky projects that add the icing on the cake; what is not allowed are safety parts and seals. Putting the vetoed items upfront can save many ineffective solutions at the negotiation table, and the other party will know your professional boundaries earlier. People with clear boundaries are actually more likely to earn trust.

Conclusion

About us, four sentences—the earlier you ask about material selection, the easier it is to ask.

For these types of parts, material selection and mold trials can be discussed together

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