PLASTICS
Standard plastics
The so-called standard plastics are produced in large quantities worldwide. They are mainly used in mass applications in the packaging and consumer goods industry and primarily fulfil visual requirements. Their mechanical properties are significantly inferior to those of engineering plastics.
Nevertheless, some of the standard plastics have special properties that predestine them for special technical applications. In particular, the high chemical resistance of polyolefins (PE, PP), the good insulating properties of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the high optical transparency of acrylic glass (PMMA) or the good price-performance ratio of styrenics (PS, ABS ...) lead to the use of these standard plastics in typical technical applications.
Components made from standard plastics can be found in pipeline or container construction, in applications subject to low mechanical wear, in covers and housings or in electrical insulation applications - to name just a few areas of application.
POLYTRON Kunststofftechnik offers standard plastics from the following material groups for different requirements and application conditions:
Polyolefins (PE, PP)
Polyolefins are semi-crystalline plastics with good chemical resistance and good electrical insulation properties. They are the most widely produced plastics in the world and are used for all kinds of mass applications.
As Engineering plastics they can only be used to a limited extent due to their limited mechanical properties. However, as extruded or pressed semi-finished products, they have better mechanical properties than polyolefins processed by injection moulding and are therefore used more frequently for technical applications.
Polyolefins include both polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE). The two best-known polyolefin types have in common a low density of less than 1g/cm³ and the above-mentioned chemical resistance. There are different types of each grade, which are optimised for specific areas of application.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is an amorphous, usually coloured standard thermoplastic that only becomes a usable hard plastic through a variety of chemical additives.
PVC is one of the oldest and most widely used thermoplastics. The material is characterised above all by good chemical resistance and a comparatively low price, albeit with a relatively high specific weight (approx. 1.4 g/cm³). Although PVC has a comparatively high mechanical strength, it is usually only suitable for static applications due to its low continuous service temperature of approx. 60°C.
Main features
- Good chemical resistance
- Good electrical insulation properties
- Heat deflection temperature 70°C
- POLYTRON PVC (PVC-U)
is the standard version of rigid PVC (PVC-U) with the properties described. The material is usually supplied in a dark grey colour, but is also available in a variety of other colours as well as in a crystal-clear (clear-transparent) version.
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- POLYTRON PVC-HI (PVC-HI)
By adding a toughness-improving modifier, the fundamentally poor notched impact strength of PVC-U is significantly improved. However, the strength of the material is impaired as a result.
- POLYTRON PVC-C (PVC-C)
Chlorinated PVC has a higher temperature resistance than unmodified PVC-U. The heat resistance increases by approx. 30%, for example, which means that the maximum application temperature can be selected approx. 15 to 20°C higher.
Acrylic glass (PMMA)
The term acrylic glass or sometimes Plexiglas® generally refers to the plastic polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
PMMA is an amorphous thermoplastic of the highest optical quality. The transparency and light transmission of PMMA is almost comparable to that of glass. The plastic also has high strength and hardness. At the same time, however, the material is relatively sensitive to impact and breakage and only has limited resistance to chemicals. PMMA is therefore used in particular for components that require maximum transparency.
In addition to injection moulding, PMMA is mainly processed as semi-finished products. Semi-finished products can - similar to the Polyamides - can be produced both extruded and moulded. However, moulded semi-finished products are more translucent and transparent and have significantly lower stress levels than extruded products.
Main features
- Maximum transparency
- Best optical quality
- Heat deflection temperature approx. 100°C
- POLYTRON PMMA XT (PMMA extruded).
Download data sheet - POLYTRON PMMA GS (PMMA moulded).
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Depending on minimum quantities, there are also various PMMA qualities with textured or coloured surfaces.
Styrenics (PS, ABS ...)
Styrenics describes a group of thermoplastics based on polystyrene. Polystyrene (PS) is an amorphous, transparent thermoplastic that is primarily used in injection moulding for the production of consumer goods and packaging. PS only has low mechanical properties. It has high rigidity and hardness combined with corresponding brittleness and fracture sensitivity, and its temperature resistance is relatively low with a maximum continuous service temperature of 60° to 80°C. Wear resistance and general chemical resistance are equally poor. However, the low chemical resistance gives the PS excellent bondability, which makes the material interesting for industrial modelling. This also means that the material can be galvanised and thermoformed very well.
Main features
- Good bondability
- Good thermal mouldability
- Heat deflection temperature approx. 80°C
Styrene co-polymers and blends such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), styrene-butadiene (SB) or styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) are also very important in injection moulding. The mechanical properties of these styrene polymers are in some cases better than those described above, but are of little significance in the field of technical plastic components.
- Polytron PS 1000 (PS)
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- Polytron ABS 1000 (ABS)
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- Q200.5 (PS-X)
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