Lexan Polycarbonate Sheets offering light weight and break resistance
Polycarbonate plastic products offer a unique balance of helpful features which include temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates between commodity plastics and engineering plastics.
Polycarbonate is definitely a high quality material. Though it features high impact-resistance, it has got lower scratch-resistance and thus a hard coating may be applied to polycarbonate eyewear lenses as well as polycarbonate exterior automotive components. The properties associated with polycarbonate tend to be similar those of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, acrylic), and yet polycarbonate is definitely stronger, it is usable in a wider temperature range and is a bit more expensive. This plastic polymer is highly transparent to visible light and it has better light transmission characteristics than many kinds of glass.
Polycarbonate carries a glass transition temperature of about 150 °C (302 °F), consequently it softens gradually above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools are required to be held at higher temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to help make strain- and reduced stress products.
Unlike almost all other thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo large changes in basic shape without cracking. Subsequently, for small changes in shape, it can be processed and formed cold using sheet metal techniques, such as forming bends on a brake. Even for sharp angle bends having a tight radius, no heating is usually necessary. This makes it valuable in prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are necessary, which may not be crafted from sheet metal. Note that PMMA/Plexiglas, which is similar in looks to polycarbonate, but it is brittle and can't be bent unless it is heated.
The light weight of polycarbonate, unlike glass, has led to continuing development of electronic view screens that replace glass materials with polycarbonate, for use in mobile and portable devices. Such displays include newer e-ink and many LCD screens, though CRT, plasma screen and other LCD technologies which still require glass for its higher melting temperature and the ability to be etched with finer detail.
Other kinds of items fabricated from Polycarbonate include durable, lightweight luggage, MP3/digital audio player cases, computer cases, riot shields, instrument panels, and common style blender jars. Many toys and hobby items are made out of polycarbonate parts, e.g. fins, gyro mounts, and flybar locks for use with radio-controlled helicopters.
For use in applications exposed to weathering or UV-radiation, a special surface treatment maybe needed. This either can be a coating (e.g. for improved abrasion resistance), or as a coextrusion for enhanced weathering resistance.
Bayer Makrolon Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that at the beginning, starts as a solid plastic material in the form of small pellets. In a manufacturing process called injection molding, this pellet material is heated until they begin to melt. The melted liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly injected into molds, compressed under high pressure and cooled to produce a finished product in a matter of minutes.
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