HYDEX® 4101 UD Plate

HYDEX® 4101 UD is an ultra-detectable PBT polyester, a semi-crystalline thermoplastic compounded with fillers that make a fragment findable three different ways: by metal detector, by X-ray inspection, and by eye against food product thanks to the blue pigment. The PBT base contributes the properties that make polyester the default for food machinery wear parts, including very low moisture absorption at 0.2 percent in 24 hours, excellent dimensional stability, and excellent resistance to chlorine and caustic cleaning solutions. Long-term service temperature is 221°F, heat deflection temperature is 275°F at 264 psi, and the melting point is 437°F.

This is a food and beverage material: guide rails, star wheels, timing screws, wear strips, scraper blades, pusher blocks and change parts on bakery, meat, poultry, dairy and packaging lines, where a broken piece entering product is the failure mode a HACCP plan has to design against. It complies with FDA raw material requirements and EU 10/2011 for food contact. The filler package is abrasive, so machine with carbide or diamond tooling. Two honest limits: the compound is notch sensitive and lower in impact strength than unfilled tough grades, and like all polyesters it is susceptible to hydrolysis under prolonged hot water or steam.