Vamac®, commonly indicated with the acronym AEM or EAM depending on whether the European or American terminology is used, indicates a type of ethylene-acrylate rubber. These special elastomers, introduced by DuPont in 1975, constitute an interesting combination of resistance to high and low temperatures (-40°C to +175°C), oils and refrigerant liquids, inorganic acids and bases, and weather.
The ethylene structure confers good properties at low temperatures while the methyl acrylate provides resistance to oils. The completely saturated structure guarantees a high level of resistance to ozone, UV radiation and weather.
It can be used for the production of articles with hardness varying from 40 to 90 Shore A. The most common technical articles find application in the automotive, chemical, and electrical sectors and wherever good behavior at high and low temperatures, in alkaline and acid environments, resistance to ozone and weather, and good electrical properties is required. A comparative study performed by DuPont Performance Polymers on aging in air at 150°C for 5,000 hours of the least expensive suitable rubbers used for automotive hoses demonstrated that Vamac far exceeded all the other polymers. This makes it an especially ideal product in terms of quality/price for responding to the stringent requirements of the automotive industry in applications such as turbo hoses and air ducts.