ULTEM® GF30 Plate

ULTEM® GF30 is polyetherimide reinforced with 30% glass fibre, an amorphous high-temperature thermoplastic that behaves more like a light structural material than a conventional engineering plastic. The reinforcement pushes tensile strength to 18,000 psi, flexural strength to 28,000 psi, and tensile modulus to 800,000 psi, while cutting thermal expansion to 1.1 x 10-5 in/in/°F, close to aluminium. Heat deflection temperature is 409°F at 264 psi and long-term service reaches 356°F. It is inherently flame retardant at UL 94 V-0, holds 3.0 x 10^16 ohm-cm volume resistivity and 770 V/mil dielectric strength, and absorbs 0.16% moisture in 24 hours.

Stock shapes are machined into aircraft interior and structural brackets, ducting components, electrical insulators and connector bodies, semiconductor test fixtures and wafer handling parts, sterilisable medical and analytical hardware, and under-hood automotive components. The material also passes FAR 25.853 flammability testing for aircraft interiors. Glass fibre is abrasive, so carbide or diamond tooling, rigid setups, and conservative feeds are worth the trouble. Being amorphous and glass filled, it is notch sensitive with only 3% elongation at break, so generous radii and stress relieving matter on thin sections, and partially halogenated solvents and strong bases can attack it.