Round Rod in PEEK HT 3000 mm black

A round rod in PEEK HT is the turning blank for parts that have to hold their shape when it gets really hot. The heat deflection temperature is high. The unreinforced HT grade keeps stiffness and strength further up in temperature than standard PEEK, and stays tough because no fiber makes it brittle. The rod handles 260 degrees long term and short peaks toward 300 degrees, which makes a turned part usable far above what ordinary plastics manage.

The tensile strength is high for an unfilled grade, around 120 MPa, and the ball indentation hardness around 282 N/mm², so a shaft or bushing carries load without flowing even when hot. The density sits at about 1.31 g/cm³. The water absorption is negligible, around 0.04 percent, which keeps fits stable in damp and hot operation without the part swelling. The fire rating is V0. The material is electrically insulating, with a specific volume resistivity around 10^14 ohm·cm, and tough in a way that fiber filled grades are not. The chemical resistance is broad against oils, acids, bases, steam and solvents.

The round format you turn into rotating and load carrying parts in heat. Shafts and guide studs in furnace and process machines where the temperature sits close to the limit of the material. Insulating bushings and sleeves near heat sources that must not conduct current. Valve spindles and support elements that have to keep their stiffness while hot without bending. Spacers and structural parts where standard PEEK would have started to soften at the operating temperature. The toughness means an HT part takes blows and shock load better than fiber filled grades, which is an advantage where the part is assembled and removed often.

In turning, HT behaves like an easily machined unfilled PEEK, without hard fibers wearing on the cutting edge. Sharp carbide inserts, moderate feed and cooling give a fine surface and fine tolerances without chipping, so fitting dimensions can be turned directly. Long slender parts need support in the lathe so they do not bend under the cutting pressure. Drill through holes in stages and clear the chips in between. Thick parts can be stress relieved before finishing, so that they do not move afterward and lose the dimension.

The difference from standard PEEK shows most clearly at the top of the temperature scale. Where ordinary PEEK starts to soften, the HT grade stays stiff and dimensionally stable, so the usable limit moves a bit higher. Creep at high temperature under constant load is lower, which means a shaft or bushing that has to carry pressure while hot keeps its shape longer instead of slowly giving way. For rotating parts close to the limit of the material, that margin is what decides whether the design holds up over time.

The unfilled grade is both insulating and tough, a combination fiber filled grades do not give. The color is typically a natural beige to brown. The toughness means a part takes assembly and disassembly without chipping at the edges, which is an advantage where it has to be swapped or adjusted often. PEEK takes glue reluctantly, so bonded joints require a pretreated surface and a mechanical fastener is usually safer. Design fits with a margin for thermal expansion. If the part needs maximum stiffness rather than toughness, a fiber reinforced grade may be right. Get in touch with temperature and load and we will pick the grade together.

A practical advantage is that the HT grade takes repeated temperature cycles without tiring. Parts that are heated and cooled over and over in operation keep their shape through the cycles, where a plastic with poorer heat stability would have crept step by step. That makes the grade suitable in equipment that is started and stopped daily. Pick a rod diameter close to the final dimension, so you keep both waste and machining time down. A finish turned surface on the mating surfaces gives the smoothest running if the part is to rotate.

The black HT rod at 3000 mm is the high temperature variant, meant for turned bushings and shaft parts in the hottest operating conditions. The round format suits parts that would otherwise be expensive to mill out of a sheet. The full length gives many blanks out of one and the same rod.

Rods come in several diameters and are cut to length as needed, so material waste is kept down. Not sure whether standard PEEK handles your operating temperature or whether HT is needed? Get in touch with temperature, load and how long the part will sit hot and we will pick the grade for your part.