Thermoplastics have revolutionized modern industries with their adaptability, durability, and wide range of applications. These versatile polymers offer engineers and designers materials that can be molded and reshaped repeatedly without altering their chemical properties.
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Piedmont Plastics supplies various thermoplastic materials for countless applications across the construction, automotive, medical, and consumer goods sectors. Understanding the technical aspects of thermoplastics will help you make informed decisions about material selection for your specific needs.
With over 100 years of combined product knowledge and industry experience, we are confident our plastics experts can help you find a solution for your application.
Thermoplastics are polymers that become pliable or moldable at elevated temperatures and harden upon cooling. This heating and cooling cycle can be repeated multiple times without changing the material’s chemical structure, making thermoplastics unique for their recyclability and versatility.
Thermoplastics' molecular structure— chains of repeating units held together by weak intermolecular forces—enables them to be reshaped and reused. Unlike thermosetting plastics (thermosets), which cannot be remolded after the curing process, thermoplastics can be repeatedly melted and reformed, making them an ideal choice for sustainable manufacturing.
At Piedmont Plastics, we offer a wide selection of thermoplastics, each with specific properties tailored to different industries. Here are some of the key thermoplastic materials available:
Polycarbonate is a high-performance thermoplastic known for its exceptional impact resistance, optical clarity, and heat resistance. Its ability to withstand extreme conditions makes it ideal for safety shields, automotive headlamp lenses, greenhouse panels, and industrial machinery guards. Polycarbonate's ability to maintain structural integrity in both low and high temperatures makes it a favored material in demanding environments.
Technical Specs Impact resistance: 250 times stronger than glass Heat resistance: Usable up to 135°C (275°F) Recyclability: Polycarbonate is recyclable, but it requires careful sorting to remove additives like UV stabilizers.ABS is known for its toughness, lightweight properties, and ease of processing. It is widely used in automotive components, electronics housings, and consumer products due to its excellent impact resistance and dimensional stability. ABS can withstand mechanical stress without cracking or breaking, making it ideal for structural applications.
Technical Specs Tensile strength: 40 MPa (Megapascal) Heat deflection temperature: 90-100°C Impact strength: Moderately high, ideal for automotive interiors and consumer electronicsAcrylic, known as polymethyl methacrylate, is a transparent thermoplastic with superior optical clarity. It is often used as a lightweight, shatter-resistant alternative to glass in applications like windows, displays, aquariums, and signage. Acrylic is UV-resistant and retains its clarity over time, making it suitable for outdoor applications.
Technical Specs Light transmittance: 92%, which exceeds that of glass Impact resistance: 10 times stronger than glass, though less durable than polycarbonate Weather resistance: Acrylic is highly resistant to yellowing and maintains clarity under prolonged UV exposure.PETG combines the durability of PET with the flexibility and easy processing of glycol modification. It is commonly used in medical packaging, food containers, and 3D printing applications. PETG is FDA-approved for food contact and is resistant to many chemicals, making it a preferred material for medical devices and consumer packaging.
Technical Specs Chemical resistance: Resistant to alcohols, acids, and diluted bases Heat resistance: Up to 70°C (158°F) Impact resistance: Higher than acrylic but lower than polycarbonate, suitable for moderate-load applicationsNylon is valued for its toughness, flexibility, and excellent abrasion resistance. It is commonly used in automotive components, mechanical gears, and textiles. Nylon’s ability to absorb impact and resist wear makes it ideal for high mechanical strength applications.
Technical Specs Tensile strength: Up to 85 MPa Heat deflection temperature: Up to 180°C (356°F) in certain grades Abrasion resistance: Extremely high, ideal for gears, bearings, and high-wear componentsThermoplastics provide a range of benefits that make them suitable for various industries.
The ability to be reshaped and reused multiple times without losing mechanical properties makes thermoplastics an environmentally friendly choice. Many thermoplastics, such as PETG and polycarbonate, can be recycled, reducing material waste and supporting sustainable manufacturing practices.
Many thermoplastics, including polycarbonate and ABS, offer high impact resistance, making them ideal for applications requiring toughness and durability. Polycarbonate, for example, is 250 times stronger than glass, which makes it an excellent choice for safety applications.
Thermoplastics can be molded into complex geometries, allowing creative design freedom. This particularly benefits automotive and consumer goods industries, where lightweight, durable, and intricately shaped components are necessary.
Thermoplastics are well-suited for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing processes, including injection molding and extrusion. This efficiency helps lower production costs while maintaining excellent precision in part fabrication.
However, there are also limitations to thermoplastics:
While thermoplastics like polycarbonate offer excellent heat resistance, others may soften or deform at lower temperatures, limiting their use in high-temperature applications. PETG, for instance, begins to lose structural integrity above 70°C.
Prolonged exposure to UV light can cause certain thermoplastics, such as polycarbonate, to turn yellow or become brittle over time, though UV-resistant coatings can mitigate this issue.
Some thermoplastics are more resistant to chemicals than others. Polycarbonate can be degraded by exposure to certain solvents, while PETG and acrylic offer better chemical resistance.
Thermoplastics offer many properties that make them essential materials in today’s industries. Thermoplastics provide the versatility and performance necessary to meet these demands, whether you need high-impact resistance, chemical stability, or optical clarity. From construction to automotive and electronics, our team of experts is ready to help you choose the right thermoplastic for your application.
For centuries, humans have used a variety of polymers such as tars, oils, resins and gums. However, the Industrial Revolution ushered in the modern era of polymer as a material. Since then, synthetic polymers have become a necessity of modern life.
In the s, Charles Goodyear created a process called vulcanization that produced a natural rubber. The first successful synthetic thermoplastic material was celluloid – a hard plastic created from nitrose cellulose, which became available in the s. The family of polymers known as thermoset has its beginning in , when Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland patented the material he named Bakelite – a combination of phenol and formaldehyde. This thermoset costs less to make than celluloid. The ability to mold Bakelite quickly made it very appealing for mass production, especially for automotive, industrial, electrical and mechanical parts.
Over the next several decades, the development of polymers moved at a snail’s pace. During the s, new polymer materials, such as neoprene, polystyrene and nylon, began to replace Bakelite. The new plastics laid the foundation for an explosion in polymer research and the quest for thermoplastic and thermoset materials, including the development of Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), across a broad range of industries.
Today, designers of plastic components and products must consider a variety of characteristics in order to select the most qualified material for the particular application. These factors include mechanical, thermal and electrical requirements of the material.
Nonetheless, for many applications, designers can combine the two materials to take advantage of the best features each material have to offer. Understanding the unique qualities of each material can help designers and engineers make well-informed decisions about product design and material selection.
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Thermoplastic and thermoset have different properties and applications. The main difference between the two materials has to do with the ability to reverse the solidification process and remelt thermoplastics into a liquid.
The polymerization process creates the polymers used for making plastics. The fabrication process for thermoplastic and thermoset start outs with the same raw materials, such as ethylene and propylene, made from crude oil. The crude oil contains hydrocarbons, which make up the monomers. During a cracking process, various hydrocarbons produce monomers – such as styrene, vinyl chloride and acrylonitrile – that are used in plastics.
The polymerization process splits a monomer into two identical parts, or half-bonds. Each part has an unpaired or free electron. This produces a free radical that combines with other half bonds to make whole bonds. The process repeats itself numerous times. Eventually, it results in the formation of millions of polymer chains or a large polymer.
During the polymerization reaction or curing, millions of separate polymer chains grow in length simultaneously, until the monomers have been exhausted material manufacturers can add predetermined amounts of hydrogen or another chain-stopper to create polymers with a consistent chain length. The chain length or molecular weight is critical for determining the characteristics of the plastic, as well as its processing attributes. Increasing the chain length determines characteristics such as increased toughness and creep resistance.
Other characteristics of plastic include lightweight, waterproof, noncorrosive, nontoxic, stress/crack resistance, melt temperature, melt viscosity and manufacturability of the material. These properties are what make thermoplastic and thermoset plastics suitable material choices for applications across a variety of industries, including:
The widespread availability and use of synthetic plastics make it easy to take the material for granted.
Thermoset encompasses a category of materials, such as rubber, that sets or cures into a particular shape through the application of heat or chemical interaction. The curing process, or vulcanization, creates an irreversible chemical reaction that makes permanent connections called cross-links. You can visualize these cross-links as chemical bridges, which gives the vulcanized polymer a three-dimensional structure that makes the material more rigid prior to curing. After the initial heat forming, and once the thermoset cures, it cannot be reheated or otherwise remolded.
The fabrication process for thermosets differs from thermoplastics. Thermoset cures in two stages involving the material supplier and the molder. For example, the thermoset plastic known as phenolic undergoes partial polymerization at the supplier. The supplier reacts under intense heat and pressure and stops the chemical reaction at the stage of most of the linear chain formations. The final stage of vulcanization occurs in the molding press, where the unreacted portion of the phenol liquefies under heat and pressure, which creates a crosslinking reaction between molecular chains.
Traditional thermoplastics consist of vicious liquids that have a susceptibility to creep and deformation, which makes them unsuitable for many applications. Along with other characteristics, thermosets offer product designers chemically robust materials with a surface hardness and heat resistance, which exceeds that of thermoplastics. Material options include:
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Many manufacturers are realizing the benefits of replacing traditional metal materials with thermosets. Thermosets have the characteristics necessary to meet demanding product specifications. They also have a longer lifecycle and reliability. The material provides excellent value through improved performance at a lower cost.
Product designers, engineers and managers have an ongoing mission to discover materials that have the properties and capabilities to meet very demanding performance requirements, as well as to save time and money. The use of LSR has been trending up since its introduction in the s, and has supplanted thermoplastic and other silicone materials for use in aerospace, food and beverage, automotive construction, communications, consumer products and more because of its superior durometer, elongation and modulus tear qualities.
Thermoset plastic products are typically produced by heating liquid or powder within a mold and allowing the material to cure into its hardened form. The molder can remove the part from the mold before it cools. The reaction used to produce thermosetting plastic products involve a chemical interaction between specialized materials.
The depth of the screw flight decreases at the end of the screw nearest the mold, which compresses the LSR. A check valve at the end of the screw facilitates high-pressure injection, by moving the screw forward – employing the screw like a plunger. This process is commonly used for products that require high precision, including seals, electrical connectors and medical applications.
Many companies appreciate the high strength-to-weight ratio – thermoset components are up to 35 percent lighter than steel parts of equal strength. This extremely strong material that offers ease of manufacturing and thermosetting materials provides a host of other characteristics at a low cost, including:
Although thermoset cannot be reheated and remolded, materials can be repurposed for other applications. For example, polyurethane foam can be shredded into small flakes and used for fabricating carpet underlayment.
Thermoplastic begins in pellet form, which becomes pliable when processed with heat above its melting point. As the heat increases, the material becomes softer and more fluid. The fluidity of the molten material allows for its injection, under pressure, from a heated cavity into the cool mold, and the material solidifies into the shape of the mold. The process does not require a chemical cure.
The transformation of the thermoplastic encompasses a completely different physical process, which can be reversed with the reapplication of heat. The formation of thermoplastic material occurs during the viscous or melted phase – heating, forming and cooling the material into the final shape.
Based on the chemistry of thermoplastic, the material can exhibit many of the same behavior characteristics associated with rubber. It can also have the strength of aluminum. Some thermoplastics retain their properties at 100 degrees F, while other thermoplastic materials can withstand temperatures as high as 600 degrees F. At room temperature, some thermoplastics do not have a known solvent. They function as excellent electrical and thermal insulation. The addition of metal or carbon to thermoplastic composites can make them electrically conductive, such as:
Some of the benefits of thermoplastic include:
The different thermoplastic resins have unique characteristics that offer various performances. Most materials commonly offer high strength, easy bendability and resistance to shrinkage. The most common method used to manufacture plastic components is plastic injection molding. During this process, the plastic can be heated into a molten liquid which is cooled and solidified into the final product. Dried, pelletized material, color or other additives can be added to the hopper and fed into a heated barrel.
Often, many manufacturers require a high-volume manufacturing process that combines aesthetics with high precision and consistency. LSR 2-Shot allows for the creation of injection-molded components by applying two different materials – thermosets such as LSR and thermoplastics – into different locations in the same mold. This proven process works well for the placement of a thermoset LSR cover in or over a hard thermoplastic substrate. For example, in the medical industry, a surgical instrument can have a base fabricated from rigid thermoplastic material, but the handle is made of soft-grip silicone.
The advantages of this technique include:
The key to overmolding LSR onto a thermoplastic substrate successfully is to use the right combination of materials. The designer must factor in the shrinkage difference between the two materials, and the thermoplastic must have the thermal capability within temperatures of 300 degrees F or more.
Generally, each material has unique attributes that make suitable for different applications. It is important to collaborate with a company that is well-versed in the intricacies of material selection and the appropriate process to ensure successful design and production. To learn more about material selection for your project, or to request a quote, contact a SIMTEC representative.
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