Styron has announced the launch of a new polycarbonate grade for polycarbonate sheet producers in Europe. XZ94261.00, which will be commercialized at a later date as CALIBRE 502-3, allows extruders to increase the fatigue resistance of their solid sheets leading to sustained aesthetics and an extended life time.

The CALIBRE 500 series is a family of polycarbonate resins specially tailored for extrusion applications, offering performance levels comparable to high-value branched polycarbonate resins at a lower cost. Today, Styron is extending this family with a new resin for solid sheet extrusion, XZ94261.00, specially developed to maximise resistance to fatigue loads.

Better Fatigue Resistance for Solid Sheet

In many transparent sheet applications, solid sheets are exposed to repetitive loads. These fatigue loads can initiate the formation of crazes in the sheet, first affecting the appearance of the sheet and ultimately resulting in cracks and mechanical fractures.

XZ94261.00 has been specifically developed to bring a higher fatigue load resistance, maintaining high quality aesthetics over a longer period. In fatigue tests, XZ94261.00 demonstrated significantly better performance in comparison with standard branched and linear polycarbonate grades as currently used in sheet applications.

Better Processing for Corrugated Sheet

Unlike standard linear polycarbonate, XZ94261.00 can also be used to manufacture corrugated sheets, providing better processing thanks to its reduced melt sagging.