The polyethylene family of plastics consist of several grades, named according to their density / molecular weight. The 3 standard grades we supply at Ai Engineering Plastics and Laminates are: PE1000 (UHMW-PE), PE500 (HMW-PE) and  PE300 (HDPE).

Ai Engineering Plastics and Laminates have distributed industrial laminates since 1980. Following our rebranding, we are continuing to invest in our stocks of both industrial laminates and engineering plastics.

Industrial laminates are different to engineering plastics as they are thermosets as opposed to thermoplastics. This means that during production they experience a chemical change and become set, hard solids that cannot be melted or remoulded once they have been cured, unlike thermoplastics which can be melted and remoulded repeatedly.

Nylon (PA) 6 & 66 are both synthetic polymers called polyamides, with the numbers describing the type and quantity of polymer chains in their chemical structure. Most nylons, including 6 & 66, are semi-crystalline and possess good strength and durability for demanding applications.  

Nylon 6 is a semi-crystalline polyamide (PA) with high mechanical strength, stiffness, hardness and toughness. In addition to this, it also has excellent wear resistance as well as good fatigue resistance, sliding properties and machinability. Whilst these properties make Nylon 6 a great all-round engineering thermoplastic, Quadrant EPP have developed a range of specialist Nylon 6 products, which are an improvement on the standard grade of Nylon 6.

Ai Engineering Plastics and Laminates has an exclusive partnership with SciCron Technologies, spanning over 15 years, which enables us to supply SciCron antistatic (ESD) sheets and films to the UK market. 

Here at Ai Engineering Plastics and Laminates we sell SciCron’s antistatic acrylic AC-300™, polycarbonate PC-350™ and antistatic film products.

You may have heard of PTFE, but have you heard of Fluorosint®, Quadrant’s “PTFE with Muscles”?

Fluorosint® is a range of enhanced PTFE materials developed by Quadrant EPP to fill the performance gaps where unfilled and low-tech, filled PTFE based polymers underperform. Each Fluorosint® material was specifically developed to excel in demanding bearing and seal applications.

Due to stringent regulations surrounding the food and beverage production and packaging sector, the need for specific materials and solutions has arisen. In recent years, the efficiency in production and the quality of products in the food industry has improved significantly, with newly developed high-performance engineering plastics contributing significantly to this. In modern food production systems, plastic products support essential process steps such as processing, handling, conserving, packing and storing. Consumers already benefit from these improved processes and rightfully expect the highest possible safety standards in the production of food and beverage products.

Ai Engineering Plastics and Laminates, as part of the Vink Group, have an established partnership with Quadrant EPP, a leading global manufacturer of high-performance thermoplastic materials.

As one of their chosen UK distributors, we recently had the opportunity to visit their manufacturing plants in Holland and Germany, where we were able to see first-hand the processes of casting, RAM extrusion, and compression moulding in the production of polyamide (Nylatron® and Ertalon®) and polyethylene (Tivar®).

The opportunity to visit Quadrant’s manufacturing plants and witness these manufacturing processes first-hand has given our teams a real insight into how various plastics are made and has armed us with knowledge we can pass on to our customers!

Acetal and Delrin® are both engineering plastics more properly known as polyoxymethylene (POM) and are members of the thermoplastics family. POM is available in 2 different resins: Acetal Copolymer (POM-C / Ertacetal C®) and Acetal Homopolymer (POM-H / Ertacetal H®). The latter is commonly referred to as Delrin®.  

Our centre in Glasgow has recently invested in a brand new bandsaw to expand their capacity.