Plastic stamping is a cost-effective, high- precision process for creating high volumes of simple plastic parts, such as washers. Ultra-High Molecular Weight (UHMW) plastic is one of the most popular options for stamping durable plastic washers and many other components due to the range of benefits offered by the material. UHMW washers meet a variety of challenging industry standards and may replace steel washers in most relevant applications.
Request a custom quoteWhat are UHMW Washers?
UHMW polyethylene is a durable, strong, and damage-resistant material that provides a solid choice for manufacturing plastic washers. It’s also lightweight, making it ideal for use in a variety of complex assemblies and systems that are sensitive to weight.
This material offers excellent chemical resistance in a wide variety of applications, and also resists damage from water, chemicals containing water, oils, and oil-based fluids without degrading, staining, or otherwise losing its positive characteristics. UHMW washers are always resistant to physical damage from wear, abrasion, and impact because of their hardness and low friction coefficient. Washers made from this material will also reduce noise from shaking or vibrating assemblies.
At New Process Fibre, we source our UHMW polyethylene from Quadrant EPP. Our team of engineering and production specialists can create durable washers as thin as 0.005 inches and as thick as 0.187 inches. We can also produce washers with dimensions ranging from 0.093 to 12 inches, depending on your particular project and specifications.
Industry Applications That Utilize UHMW Washers
Because UHMW has so many positive characteristics, washers made from the material are extremely versatile and can be used in a wide variety of applications. Some of the most common include:
- Bumpers
- Chain guides
- Chutes
- Conveyance systems
- Guard rails
- Hoppers
- Idler sprockets
- Marine dock fender pads
- Packaging machinery assemblies
- Pile guards
- Star wheels
- Truck bed liners
- Wear strips
Ultimately, UHMW washers can be designed and produced for virtually any application that needs a washer to be capable of resisting physical and chemical damage.
What Are the Benefits of UHMW Washers?
There are many different materials that manufacturers can use to produce washers. Some are easily compressible to create a water-tight seal at different pressure levels, while others are built to withstand constant vibration and shaking in active machinery and equipment. With so many material options, it’s important to know what characteristics different materials possess and which of those properties you need to achieve your desired results. Some of the most beneficial characteristics of UHMW washers include:
- Easy fabrication. UHMW is easy to fabricate into material sheets of different thicknesses and dimensions for additional machining stages. High-precision stamping can also easily shape the material into washers with a high rate of repeatability between parts in the production run.
- Interactions with fluids. UHMW is extremely unreactive to water-based and oil-based fluids. It won’t degrade in the presence of many chemicals and also won’t absorb them.
- Broad general resistances. UHMW offers good resistances to chemicals, moisture, UV radiation damage, and bacteria or other microorganisms.
- Physical characteristics. UHMW washers are tough. They can withstand impact, wear, friction, vibration damage, and more.
UHMW Washers From New Process Fibre
At New Process Fibre, we specialize in creating high-quality, high-precision parts from specialty materials like UHMW. To learn more about our services, capabilities, and products, please view our online product catalog. For additional questions or concerns, please contact us or request a quote today.
