MATERIALS 

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uPVC is available in dark grey and clear transparent and in various colours. It is rigid and stiff sheet with good impact strength, chemical resistance and low moisture absorption. It has a high fire rating being self extinguishing when the flame is removed. uPVC can be cut, formed, welded and solvent cemented.

Acrylonite Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is a tough sheet with good impact resistance down to low temperatures. Modified grades are available to increase UV resistance or to improve its fire rating. ABS is available with a choice of surface finish.

Hard, rigid and tough, with good abrasion resistance and low coefficient of friction, dimensionally stable. Has good electrical and weatherability properties

AC Plastic Developments Ltd

Dale Side

Buxton

Derbyshire

SK17 6NN

Telephone:01298-79325

Facsimile:01298-79324

e-mail: info@acplastics.co.uk

web: www.acplastics.co.uk

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Polypropylene is a tough material that remains usable at low temperatures. It has excellent chemical resistance and good fatigue resistance with very low moisture absorbency. It is easy to thermoform and can be fabricated and welded. It is very good for cladding applications as it can withstand repeated steam cleaning.

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) has a wide working temperature range. It has excellent chemical resistance, good electrical insulation and very low moisture absorbency. It can be thermoformed but has poor UV resistance and is susceptible to stress cracking.

Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) has the highest molecular weight of all polyolefines. It has very high resistance to wear and abrasion, low sliding friction coefficient and a very high impact strength even at low temperatures. It is suitable for contact with foodstuffs.

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A totally fluorinated polymer.  It is semi-crystalline, semi-opaque and white. It has outstanding chemical resistance being unaffected by almost all chemicals and also has a very high oxygen index (i.e. is inherently non-flam). It has a very low coefficient of friction and is stable to high temperatures. It is soft, easily deformed, very prone to creep and low in strength with poor radiation resistance. It is expensive and cannot be melt-processed  and so is formed by powder sintering methods.

A semi-crystalline, semi-opaque and white engineering thermoplastic that is melt processable and expensive. It has good temperature and general chemical resistance  and good abrasion and radiation resistance. It is somewhat stiffer and stronger than most (melt-processable) fluoropolymers but has high dielectric losses

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A crystal clear and colorless, amorphous engineering thermoplastic notable for its high impact resistance (which remains high down to -40C). It has reasonably good temperature resistance, good dimensional stability and low creep but somewhat limited chemical resistance and is prone to environmental stress cracking. It also has poor fatigue and wear properties.

Acrylic is an amorphous, transparent and colourless thermoplastic that is hard and stiff but brittle and notch-sensitive. It has good abrasion and UV resistance and excellent optical clarity but poor low temperature, fatigue and solvent resistances. Though flammable, it has low smoke emission.

Acrylic sheet that combines the excellent light transmission, weather resistance of standard acrylic sheet with the higher impact strength of polycarbonate. It  is easy to cut, machine and thermoform and is available in clear transparent and opal grades.

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A high performance thermoplastic with the characteristics common to this group - strong, stiff, hard, high temperature resistance, good chemical resistance and inherently low flammability and smoke emission. PEEK is amber in color and usually semi-crystalline and opaque, except thin films are usually amorphous and transparent. It also has very good resistance to wear, dynamic fatigue and radiation, but it is difficult to process and very expensive. Filled grades, including ones designed for bearing-type applications are also available as special order items.

A family of similar semi-crystalline engineering thermoplastics generally synthesized from straight chain aliphatic acids and amines. Each particular nylon is described by one or two numbers eg nylon 6 or 6,6 where the number is the number of carbon atoms in the amine and acid monomers. Where a single number is used the monomer is an Alpha amino-acid (or its lactam) and the amide links in the polymer are all "head-to-tail". Where two numbers are used the monomers are a diamine and diacid and the amide links alternate "head-to-tail"/"tail-to-head". The first number refers to the diamine, the second to the diacid.

Many of the above materials have grades and variants that enhance certain properties.