Sheffield Plastics Polycarbonate Flat Sheet offering light weight and break resistance
Makrolon Polycarbonate products have a balance of beneficial features which include temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates between commodity plastics and engineering plastic materials.
Polycarbonate is a very tough material. Even though it offers considerable impact-resistance, it's got low scratch-resistance and so a hard coating can be applied to polycarbonate eye protection as well as polycarbonate exterior auto equipment. The characteristics associated with polycarbonate tend to be comparable to those of Acrylic PMMA materials, and yet polycarbonate is undoubtedly 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 has better light transmission characteristics than several types of glass.
Polycarbonate has 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 will have to be held at warm to high temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to help with making strain- and almost stress free products.
Unlike almost all other thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo massive shape changes without cracking. Subsequently, it can be processed and formed at room temperature using sheet metal techniques, for example forming bends with a brake. For even sharp angle bends with a tight radius, no heating is usually necessary. This makes it attractive prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are important, which cannot be created from sheet metal. Note that PMMA/Plexiglas, that is similar in appearance to polycarbonate, but it is brittle and cannot be bent with out a heating process.
The light weight of polycarbonate, compared to glass, has led to development of electronic view screens that replace glass with polycarbonate, for use in mobile and portable devices. Such displays include newer e-ink and some LCD screens, though CRT, plasma screen and other LCD technologies which still do require glass for its higher melting temperature and its ability to be etched in finer detail.
Other miscellaneous items produced from Polycarbonate include durable, lightweight luggage, MP3/digital audio player cases, computer cases, high impact riot shields, instrument panels, and blender jars. Many toys and hobby products are manufactured from polycarbonate parts, e.g. fins, gyro mounts, and flybar locks for use with radio-controlled helicopters.
For use in applications subjected to weathering or UV-radiation, a special surface treatment is needed. This can be a coating (e.g. for improved abrasion resistance), or perhaps the coextrusion for enhanced weathering resistance.
The Makrolon Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that begins 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. This liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly pushed into molds, compressed under high pressure and cooled to produce a finished product in less than a minute.
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