Perfluoroalkoxy PFA

As a melt-processable fluoropolymer, PFA can be processed by most of the traditional plastics processing methods, and the material is used extensively for injection molding, extrusion, powder coating, compression molding, transfer molding and other molding techniques. As a general rule PFA is easy to process due to its high thermal stability. The polymer properties are not affected by long residence times but as with most fluoropolymers, processing requires high temperatures to melt the resin and the processing machinery used must be suitable for high temperatures and high melt viscosities.

PFA is produced in a variety of grades depending on the processing method to be used for the material. Specific grades are available for injection molding, extrusion, powder coating, compression molding and transfer molding.
 

Glass fiber filled grades of PFA are also available to give significant increases in heat deflection temperature and tensile strength compared to the standard unmodified grades. These increases are, however, at the expense of reduced elongation at break and notched Izod impact strength.

PFA is available as semi-finished products in rod, tube, sheet and other formats suitable for further machining.
 

Semi-finished products can be machined using conventional machine tools to give a good finish for prototype evaluation or small run production. PFA machines easily and accurately using conventional machine tools with carbide or diamond tipped tooling. Speeds and feeds should be slow (as with any plastic material) to prevent excessive heat build up in the part.