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What is UHMWPE? Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene?

Mar. 04, 2021

Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE), it has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 3.5 and 9.5 million amu.  The longer chain serves to transfer load more effectively to the polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interactions. This results in a very tough material, with the highest impact strength of any thermoplastic presently made. 


UHMWPE is odorless, tasteless, and nontoxic. It embodies all the characteristics of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with the added traits of being resistant to concentrated acids and alkalis, as well as numerous organic solvents.  It is highly resistant to corrosive chemicals except oxidizing acids; has extremely low moisture absorption and a very low coefficient of friction; is self-lubricating (see boundary lubrication); and is highly resistant to abrasion, in some forms being 15 times more resistant to abrasion than carbon steel. Its coefficient of friction is significantly lower than that of nylon and acetal and is comparable to that of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon), but UHMWPE has better abrasion resistance than PTFE.



UHMWPE material application:

UHMWPE sheets,  double colour HDPE sheets and parts, as well as custom machined plastic parts such as, UHMWPE Synthesis of ice, PE hockey shooting board, plastic ice rink barrier, ICE  RINK system, ICE HOKCEY RINK SYSTEM, FLOORBALL RINK, SOCCER REBOUNDER etc.  Also have some other products made from HDPE and UHMW PE material , like HDPE sheet, UHMW PE sheet, UHMWPE crane outrigger pads, ground protection mats, UHMWPE liners for truck liner, bin liner ,  bunker liner, UHMWPE marine fender facing pads, UHMWPE machine CNC parts.......