PEEK PVX Bearing Grade Rod

PVX is PEEK carrying the three-filler bearing package - carbon fibre for load, PTFE for low friction and graphite for dry lubricity - and it is the grade to specify when a bushing or wear pad has to run unlubricated at temperature. Static friction against steel is 0.18 and dynamic 0.20 at 40 psi and 50 fpm, with a wear rate of 10 x 10^-10 in3-min/ft-lb-hr, an order of magnitude better than unfilled PEEK. Heat deflection temperature at 264 psi is 530F - the highest in this range - continuous service is 500F with short excursions to 572F, and moisture pickup is 0.02% in 24 hours.

Tensile strength is 11,000 psi at yield on an 800,000 psi modulus, flexural strength 18,000 psi, compressive strength 16,500 psi at 10% strain and hardness Rockwell M95 (R119). It is machined into bushings, bearings, wear pads, seals, back-up rings and slide components in pumps, compressors and hot rotating equipment. Be clear what you give up: tensile strength is about a third below unfilled PEEK and compressive strength lower too, elongation is 2.5% so it is notch-sensitive and not a structural grade, it does not insulate electrically, black is the only colour, and no food-contact or medical approval is published for it.