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Dukane's ISTeP New member of Eastman Tritan™ Medical Toolkit

Dukane's ISTeP New member of Eastman Tritan™ Medical Toolkit

Dukane ISTeP (Industrial Standard Test Part), a two-piece cylindrical part designed to test various characteristics of different resins and plastic welding processes, is the new addition to the Eastman Tritan™ Medical Toolkit. Each application in the Medical Toolkit demonstrates key attributes Tritan™ offers in the medical device and packaging markets.

Complex medical devices often require secondary operations to complete the assembly or fabrication process of molded or otherwise formed parts, which includes bonding, welding and various other joining methods. Tritan™ offers a unique combination of toughness and chemical resistance that makes these molded or formed components well suited to secondary operations that complete the assembly or fabrication process. ISTePs made with Tritan™ have been successfully assembled using a variety of welding methods including servo driven ultrasonic welding and the recently developed 2-micron laser welding process that allows joining clear unfilled thermoplastic without the need for any absorbing additives.

ISTeP is replacing the I-beam test part that was previously in the Medical Toolkit. ISTeP's unique design facilitates a number of testing techniques in which medical device manufacturers can evaluate performance of specific resins, joint designs and welding methods for their particular applications. The ISTeP mold is designed for even filling, preventing warping and sink marks, and ensures consistent wall thickness. The mold design also includes an insert to allow molding of numerous varieties of weld joint designs. Three tabs on the top and three on the bottom portion of the part make it easy to place it into a tensile test fixture. When the welded ISTeP comes apart during the tensile testing, the assembly will do so evenly, avoiding the so-called ‘zipper effect'. An integral port in the lower portion of the part makes it easy to insert an air tube for a static pressure test or burst testing. The ISTeP design also allows for measuring part height before and after welding, determining actual collapse distance.

The ISTeP injection mold is available upon request from Dukane for firms wanting test parts molded with an alternate material available in Eastman's family of resins. For more information on Dukane's ISTeP and other ultrasonic welding products, please contact Dukane IAS at 630-797-4900 and visit www.dukane.com. For Eastman Tritan™ contact tritanexperts@eastman.com or call 423-229-2000.