In Russia, they created a frost-resistant plastic

The new polymer retains its properties under extreme cold. Specialists NITU “MISiS” created friction-resistant polymer products, which can be used in the cold to minus 80 degrees Celsius. For large-scale extraction of minerals in the Arctic, complex industrial equipment and heavy machinery with a large number of friction units will be required. At the so-called cold pole in Yakutia, the temperature was recorded below minus 67 degrees.

The conditions of the Far North dictate strict requirements for the reliability of equipment. With low transport availability, every failure of a bearing that has not sustained a severe cold can mean a large financial loss. For mining organizations, it will be critically important to use machines with such moving parts that can withstand non-standard operating conditions for as long as possible.

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Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is one of the types of thermoplastics (it can soften when heated and again solidify upon cooling). This plastic consists of very long molecular chains that effectively transfer the load and distribute it inside the substance. Now UHMWPE is used in medicine for prosthetics, as well as as a basis for promising bulletproof vests and in some other areas.

Tapes from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene developed in NITU “MISiS” and company Biomimetrix can be glued to the inner metal parts of bearings, where they will serve as friction surfaces. The new material is longevous and resistant to low temperatures (it loses its working properties only at minus 80 degrees Celsius). High chemical inertness ensures ecological compatibility.

Another area of ​​application of the new plastic is the cladding panels for the bodies of polar ATVs and other equipment subject to shock loads. They will consist of alternating solid and porous layers. According to representatives of MISiS, it is this structure that makes it possible to achieve maximum impact strength of the plates. Such material can be deformed under physical influence, and then restore the original shape.

The layered structure of polymer panels was borrowed by their developers from biological objects. For example, human bones have a continuous outer layer (which carries the main load) and a spongy core.

– Earlier in Russia, there was an experimental production of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene in Kazan and Tomsk. But further experiments did not work. To achieve profitability, demand for this polymer should be at least several thousand tons per year. I think that this level of consumption will be achieved in the case of widespread use of UHMWPE in the development of the Arctic, “Fyodor Senatov, a researcher at the Center for Composite Materials of the NIITU” MISiS “, told Izvestia.

According to Ivan Bespalov, director of development of individual armor protection equipment of JSC “Research Institute of Steel”, UHMWPE is a material with enormous wear resistance and very low coefficient of friction.

– Its use as a working material for bearings can be a great idea. This is possible provided that in MISiS well coped with the task of gluing the polymer to the metal, – said the expert.

According to Ivan Bespalov, the successful use of ultrahigh-molecular polyethylene for Arctic technology can dramatically increase domestic demand for UHMWPE in Russia. And then domestic manufacturers of polymers will again be interested in its production. This can lead to a significant decrease in the dependence on the supply of imported raw materials.