PEEK Plastic CNC Machining

Contents

1. What is PEEK Plastic?

2. What are the advantages of PEEK parts?

3. What are the limitations of PEEK parts?

4. What are the Applications of PEEK machined parts?

5. PEEK CNC Machining tips

What is PEEK Plastic?

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a high-performance engineering plastic. It is widely used in aerospace, automotive, medical and other fields for its excellent high temperature resistance, chemical resistance, mechanical properties and electrical insulation.

What are the advantages of PEEK parts?

High temperature resistance	PEEK has a high glass transition temperature (Tg=143℃) and melting point (Tm=334℃), and the long-term use temperature can reach 260℃, and the instantaneous use temperature can reach 300℃.
Chemical resistance	PEEK has good tolerance to most acids, alkalis, organic solvents and hydrocarbon compounds, and is insoluble in any solvent except concentrated sulfuric acid.
Self-lubricating property	PEEK has excellent sliding properties and is suitable for occasions with low friction coefficient and wear resistance
Flame retardancy	PEEK is self-extinguishing and can reach the UL standard 94V-0 level without adding any flame retardant
Easy processing	PEEK has good high temperature fluidity and high thermal decomposition temperature, and can be formed by a variety of processing methods.
Mechanical properties	PEEK has good toughness and rigidity, as well as excellent fatigue resistance.
Electrical properties	PEEK has high volume resistivity and surface resistivity, and maintains good insulation properties over a wide temperature range.
Hydrolysis resistance	PEEK is not chemically affected by water and high-pressure steam, and can maintain good mechanical properties even in high temperature and high-pressure steam or water environments.

What are the limitations of PEEK parts?

PEEK is more expensive than other engineering plastics

Special handling is needed to minimize internal stress and heat-related cracks

What are the Applications of PEEK machined parts?

Medical equipment parts

PEEK has premium biocompatibility and chemical resistance, peek can make parts such as dental implants, surgical instruments, and other medical equipment parts.

Electronic and electrical field

Peek maintains good electrical insulation even under harsh environments, PEEK parts are used to built connectors, electro-thermal components, etc.

Energy, oil

With outstanding chemical-resistance and high temperature-resistance, peek machined parts such as drill heads, sealings and sensors are widely used in oil, chemical fields.

Aerospace

Peek has the properties of high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance, salt spray resistance, corrosion resistance, hydrolysis resistance, low specific gravity, flame retardancy, etc.

With Tensile Strength and load strength equal to titanium, but only one fifth weight of metal, PEEK has become the ideal material for aerospace components.

Automotive

PEEK are used to make gears, gearbox components, bearing, O-rings, washers, pump, valve, and actuator parts. The automotive industry

Electronical industry: insulators, connectors and wafer-carrier

Mechanical engineering: gear wheels, sliding elements, compressor- and pump-components, bushings, valves and rollers

Oil- and gas industry: drill heads, sealings and sensors

PEEK CNC Machining tips

Drilling holes: PEEK has high strength and high toughness. Therefore, during the drilling process, if the hole diameter is small and the hole chips are not discharged in time, the temperature around the hole may rise sharply, and eventually cause the peek product to crack. In order to solve this problem, we can consider optimizing the drilling parameters, such as appropriately reducing the drilling speed and increasing the flow rate of the coolant;

Wear of the tool: PEEK has a more serious wear on the cutting tool. During the processing, the alternating effect of the cutting line speed will cause the wear on the cutting edge of the tool to increase, thereby affecting the shape, dimensional accuracy and surface quality of peek parts. In order to reduce the wear of the tool, we can choose tool materials with high hardness and high wear resistance, such as cemented carbide and ceramic tools, and adjust the cutting parameters at the same time, such as reducing the cutting speed and feed speed, to reduce the burden on the tool.

POM CNC Machining

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