Nylon is a synthetic polymer that became popular during World War II for producing parachutes and other equipment for the U.S. military. The use of nylon has increased in the ensuing decades. While most people are familiar with nylon fabric and cookware, you can also find it in industrial products such as plastic fasteners and machine parts.
Fortifying Nylon With Glass
While nylon is a relatively strong material, “filling” nylon with glass will give it the additional structure and rigidity required for many manufacturing applications. There are two basic processes for creating glass-filled nylon: extruding the plastic with glass fibers or adding powdered glass to nylon resin.
Glass-filled nylon offers several advantages over traditional nylon material, such as:
- Significant increase in stiffness and tensile strength
- Lower thermal expansion rate and increased stability during extreme temperature variations
- Increases hardness by up to 50 percent
Some drawbacks to using glass-filled nylon include:
- A workpiece that is too heavy in some cases
- Abrasiveness that can accelerate the wear on tools
- More brittle than traditional nylon
- Increases project cost
Electroplating Glass-Filled Nylon
Although challenging, it is possible to electroplate glass-filled nylon with various metals. Reasons for plating the workpiece can include:
- Increasing resistance to corrosion and wear
- Providing electromagnetic shielding to block radio frequency radiation in electronics applications
- Enhancing the scalability of a production process
- Improving the aesthetic appeal of a product
Most glass-filled nylon plating processes require some form of surface activation to ensure sufficient coating adhesion and to enhance the quality of the finish.
Typical Applications for Electroplating Glass-Filled Nylon
Plating glass-filled nylon has numerous industrial and manufacturing applications, such as:
- Automotive: Electroplating can provide extra thermal protection of glass-filled nylon parts found in the engine compartment of automobiles.
- Printing: Plating delivers additional strength and stiffness for glass-filled nylon parts for 3D printers.
- Consumer products: Many types of consumer goods now contain glass-filled nylon. Electroplating can enhance the parts’ strength, durability and resistance to wear.
- Electronics: Manufacturers of electronics equipment containing glass-filled nylon parts and components can use electroplating to make them electrically conductive and increase their thermal resistance.
- Appliances: Plating can improve the abrasion resistance of the glass-filled nylon bearings found in many household appliances.
- Fasteners: Electroplating increases the strength and hardness of glass-filled nylon fasteners such as screws, nuts, bolts and washers.
SPC Can Plate Glass-Filled Nylon
No matter what you use glass-filled nylon for, you can trust the professionals at SPC to plate it to your specifications. We’ve been providing reliable, cost-effective metal finishing solutions for companies in a wide variety of industries for more than 90 years. We’ll work with you to develop and implement a customized plating technique that will add value to your manufacturing operation.
Contact us for a no-obligation quote today.
