When it comes to tough plastics, polycarbonate is the poster child that best exemplifies the term. There are few materials known to man with the properties of this near bullet-proof plastic. Indeed, polycarbonate is used as one of the protective layers in bullet proof glass, a military-style endorsement if one was needed. The substance is lightweight and found in every industry. It’s almost impossible to root through belongings and furnishings without finding a product made from polycarbonate. Here’s a clue to finding a possession manufactured from the strengthened material: look for any item that’s delicate but built to last. A CD or DVD is a prime example of this design, a belonging that’s incredibly delicate, yet nearly indestructible due to a polycarbonate coating. Here are 5 reasons to fall in love with the material.

1. High Strength Application – Developed in the 1950’s, polycarbonate has incredible properties, but scientists quickly realized the toughness of the polymer and pushed products made from the substance into service as bullet resistant glass. The 1980’s saw the introduction of the CD, a format that immediately benefited from a tough polycarbonate coating.

2. Transparency – Light penetrates polycarbonate easily, a fact that supports the application of the material for the above mentioned examples of glass and CDs. Additionally, the delicate glass used in eyewear benefits from the application of a layer of the polymer, although we should mention that polycarbonate is susceptible to the occasional scratch. That’s an issue that’s more than offset by the materials ability to deform without causing distortion.

3. Superior Electrical Insulator – This is a feature that’s penetrated deep into the electronics industry, a domain that sees more than its fair share of heat and electrical discharge. Polycarbonate insulators isolate conductors passively and act as dynamic dielectrics within capacitors.

4. Energy Conservation – Raising heat preservation from the domain of micro-circuitry to macro applications, polycarbonate is lightweight, cheaper than glass, and better at keeping in heat than comparable materials. Additionally, as a plastic, polycarbonate panels are easier to mould and curve than glass

5. Polycarbonate Sheeting in Industry – Combine all of the above properties to gain a material that’s ideal for light industry and the home. Polycarbonate sheets are currently used as shatter-proof replacements for standard glass panels used in sun rooms and solariums, greenhouses and skylights.

This list could go on to include the longevity of the material and the ability of polycarbonate lenses to curve light due to a higher index of refraction, but we think it’s enough to say that the advantages of the polymer are substantial. Transparency and durability spell out a number of applications that target the eyewear sector and armoured glass products for military usage and general security.

It’s the 21st century, and there are more choices available than ever before to our industrial clients. In the case of plastic, this means being able to offer precisely customized manufacturing processes with an output material that can satisfy any list of parameters. Features present no obstacle and goals are attainable with an attached timeline that highlights expert productivity, but there are still measurable ingredients that set plastics manufacturers apart. One of those factors relates to procedural performance, the utilization of machinery associated with a task. As a case study, try comparing the injection moulding of plastic against a machined plastic environment. Machined plastic doesn’t compete with the paint-by-numbers process that is injection moulding, and it doesn’t attempt to, not when the process is built to match an alternative fabrication goal, that of creating super-precise prototypes and quickly changing the configuration of the machinery to run out a second or third generation of the prototype.

We’re perhaps being ingenuous regarding the capabilities of injection moulding. The method has many merits, not leastwise the ability to create a part with repeatability, thus designating the machinery as being ideal for bulk orders. Still, the addition of a CNC machining station within such a facility, or even a satellite department in another location, adds dimension to the work cycle. Instead of mindlessly baking and making parts, the company has the wherewithal to adapt the part, to model it as a prototype on a computer simulation program and continue this process until the part is finalized. At this point, the part moves onward to the bulk stage, that of injection moulding.

Subtractive CNC prototyping includes the following benefits
• Subtractive process uses single blocks of plastic
• Bypasses issues such as feed defects and fluid freezes
• No expensive mould to construct
• Adaptable by altering tool paths
• Faster turnaround time for greater productivity, especially in smaller projects

These two techniques are both well-defined factory options, and they’re not in competition with each other. They both have their place. As one would suspect, CNC tooling creates far more precise parts, components that meet or exceed dimensional constraints, but this model of operation isn’t geared toward mass production. On the other hand, material provision for an injection moulding operation is an all-in-one technique, a series of stages that goes from the introduction of resins and melted plastics to the pressurized introduction of the material into a mould. There are many variable to be aware of in the technique, but once all wrinkles have been worked out, the machinery can run for days-on-end. In the long run, choose CNC machining for unequalled production of limited runs and superior design versatility.

A compact introduction to the properties that define all high-performance engineering plastics is a difficult prospect to undertake, especially when we acknowledge the sheer scale of polymer fabrication that’s penetrated into every industry over the last half century or more. Manufacturing plastics, synthetic materials designed to be rugged in application and versatile to manipulate, have surpassed expectations on every front, entering high-performance areas of application where carbon-strengthened steel was once the only option. Now, instead of a metal that exhibits a handful of positive characteristics, engineers have access to tailor-made polymers with countless features.

One way to simplify any task is to take the divide and conquer approach, to split a task into manageable chunks and define each one with plenty of details. Let’s try this method with our study of engineering plastic. This series of polymers diverges from commodity plastics. They’re defined by chemical complexities and tolerance parameters that translate into real world engineering properties that work best in scenarios where mechanical stresses and high-energy forces are apparent. For example, a polycarbonate fabrication cycle incorporates durability factors and temperature constraints. It would be atypical to use this specially formulated material as a simple plastic bag or a storage medium. Indeed, engineering plastics lean heavily toward functionality in their manufacturing dynamic, toward industrial-grade hallmarks demonstrated by elasticity, rigged construction, electrical conductivity, glass-transition temperature, and a host of other factors that can only be properly interpreted by polymer engineers.

Engineering plastic properties at a glance

• Thermal and mechanical characteristics
• Chemical resistance
• Moisture retention
• Versatility through additive injection

This is by no means a complete listing but rather a sampling of the characteristics held within the complex molecular structure of this highly functional group of polymers. Typically manufactured from thermoplastics, a ductile and mouldable plastic that melts when heated, popular forms include ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), Polyamide, Polyimide, Polycarbonate, and a range of fluorine-based polymers that include Teflon. Again, this selection is incomplete, but it does represent a respectable section of the market. On top of the individual classes of plastics designed for engineering purposes, each substance possesses modifiers that can be regulated by the injection of an additive during the manufacturing process, a feature that makes plastic far more adaptable and affordable than a comparable metal-based facility that requires foundry equipment and huge amounts of heat to run.

Due to their purpose-formed design ethic, engineering plastics are manufactured to act as abrasion-resistant components and chemically immune parts, as gears and pipes integrated within heavy machinery. They’re also consistently found in aeronautical parts due to their lightweight nature. Automotive designs are also the domain of numerous engineering plastics, with superior variants now entering heavily stressed territory such as the engine manifold.