Plastics that can be used for electroplating are ABS, ABS+PC, NYLON, PEI, CARBON FIBER etc…
Let’s take a look at the properties of each of these plastics.
Properties and applications of ABS
ABS acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer as a welding material for ultrasonic plastic welding machines.
What are the properties and applications?
Chemical and physical properties:
ABS is synthesized from three chemical monomers: acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. Each of these monomers has different properties.
Each monomer has different properties: acrylonitrile has high strength, thermal and chemical stability: butadiene
Styrene is easy to process and has a high gloss and high strength.
Morphologically, ABS is a non-crystalline material. The polymerization of the three monomers results in a terpolymer with two phases, a continuous styrene-acrylonitrile phase and the properties of ABS are largely dependent on the properties of the three monomers.
The properties of ABS depend mainly on the ratio of the three monomers and the molecular structure in the two phases. This allows a great deal of flexibility in product design and has resulted in a hundred different ABS materials on the market.
These different qualities offer different properties such as medium to high impact resistance, low to a high gloss, and high-temperature distortion properties.
ABS materials offer exceptional processability, cosmetic properties, low creep, and excellent dimensional and high impact strength.
Injection molding process conditions:
The ABS material is hygroscopic and requires drying prior to processing. Recommended drying conditions are a minimum of 2 hours at 80-90C. The temperature of the material should be less than 0.1%. Melting temperature: 210-280C; recommended temperature: 245C. Mold temperature (mold temperature will affect the finish of the part, lower temperatures will result in a lower finish).
(lower temperature will result in a lower finish). Injection pressure: 500 to 1000 bar. injection speed: (zhu she su du_) Medium to high speed.
Typical applications:
Automotive (dashboards, tool hatches, wheel covers, reflector boxes, etc.), refrigerators, large
strength tools (hairdryers, blenders, food processors, lawnmowers, etc.), telephone
housings, typewriter keyboards, recreational vehicles such as golf trolleys and jet sleds
carts, etc.
Properties of PC plastics:
Pure PC resin is an amorphous, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, transparent thermoplastic polymer. Its molecular weight is usually in the range of 20,000 to 70,000
range, with a relative density of 1.18 to 1.20, and a glass transition temperature of 140 to 150°C. The melting range is 220 to 230°C. Polycarbonate has some chemical resistance and excellent oil resistance.
Polycarbonate is chemically resistant and has excellent oil resistance. Due to the non-crystalline nature of polycarbonate, the intermolecular build-up is not dense. Organic solvents such as aromatics and chlorinated hydrocarbons will swell or dissolve them.
Solvent cracking can easily occur. Poor alkali resistance.
Because PC is transparent and cannot be plated, it can be used for transparent and translucent parts of a product design.ABS combined with PC achieves this design feature perfectly.
The main advantages of NYLON (PA) performance
- high mechanical strength, good toughness, high tensile and compressive strength. The specific tensile strength is higher than that of metal and the specific compressive strength is comparable to that of metal, but it is not as rigid as metal. The tensile strength is close to the yield strength, more than double that of ABS. Strong absorption of shock and stress vibration, the impact strength is much higher than general plastics and better than acetal resin.
- outstanding fatigue resistance, the parts can still maintain the original mechanical strength after repeated bending. Common escalator handrails, new bicycle plastic wheel rims, and other occasions where the role of cyclic fatigue is very obvious are often used PA.
- the high softening point, heat-resistant (such as nylon 46, high crystalline nylon heat deflection temperature, can be used at 150 degrees for a long time. PA66 after glass fiber was reinforced, its heat deflection temperature reached more than 250 degrees).
- smooth surface, low coefficient of friction, wear-resistant. It is self-lubricating, has low noise, and can be used without lubricant when the friction is not too high; if it is necessary to use a lubricant to reduce friction or help heat dissipation, water oil, grease, etc. can be chosen. Thus, it has a long service life as a transmission part. 5.
- resistant to corrosion, very resistant to alkali and most salt liquids, also resistant to weak acids, oils, gasoline, aromatic compounds, and general solvents, inert to aromatic compounds, but not resistant to strong acids and oxidizing agents. It is resistant to gasoline, oil, fat, alcohol, alkali, etc., and has good resistance to aging. It can be used as a packaging material for lubricants, fuels, etc. 6.
- self-extinguishing, non-toxic, odorless, good weather resistance, inert to biological erosion, good antibacterial, anti-mold ability. 7.
- Excellent electrical properties. Good electrical insulation, nylon volume resistance is high, high breakdown voltage resistance, in a dry environment, can be used as frequency insulation materials, even in a high humidity environment still has good electrical insulation. 8.
- Light weight, easy to dye, easy to shape. It has a low melt viscosity and can flow quickly. It is easy to fill the mold and has a high freezing point after filling the mold, so it can be shaped quickly, so the molding cycle is short and the production efficiency is high.
Main characteristics of PEI
Polyetherimide, PEI for short, is an amber-colored transparent solid with inherent flame retardancy and low smoke without any additives, with an oxygen index of 47% and a combustion rating of UL94-V-0, and a density of 1.28-1.42 g/cm3. toughness and strength.
1. PEI is a thermoplastic engineering resin with stable properties.
2. One of the outstanding properties of PEI resins is their ability to withstand high temperatures over long periods of time. This high heat resistance, combined with excellent flammability and UL laboratory approval, makes PEI resins meet the demanding requirements of high-temperature applications.
3. (Ductility) PEI resins not only have high strength and high modulus properties, they also have outstanding ductility. Its yield elongation allows it to be freely combined with a wide range of snap-fit designs for easy assembly. Even with only 10% glass fiber reinforcement, PEI 2100 resin can be ductile from below zero to 200°C.
4. (Impact strength) PEI 1000 resin has excellent practical impact resistance. Given that PEI resins show notch sensitivity, it is recommended that standard design principles be observed. PEI AT*100 resins are designed for applications where high-impact performance is required. The notched Izod impact of this range can reach 15km/mз.
5. (Fatigue resistance) For cyclic loading or oscillating components, fatigue is a lifelong design consideration.
6. (Creep behavior) When considering the mechanical properties of any thermoplastic, the designer must be aware of the effects of temperature, stress levels, and load duration on material performance. PEI resins have shown excellent creep resistance even at temperatures and stress levels where many other thermoplastics cannot be used.
7. PEI resins have excellent electrical properties and remain stable over a wide range of environmental conditions. This, coupled with the thermal and mechanical properties, makes PEI resins ideal for demanding electronic and electrical applications.
8. (Relative dielectric constant) Although applications may require either high or low relative dielectric constant values, what is important is that these values remain stable over the entire service temperature and/or frequency range.
9, PEI Chinese name (polyetherimide) is amber transparent solid, has good flame retardancy and low smoke, burning grade UL94-V-0.
10、PEI has strong high-temperature stability. High-temperature resistance, heat deformation temperature up to 220 ℃, can be used for a long time under the working temperature of -160 a 180 ℃.
11、Hydrolysis stability is very good, high-temperature resistance, steam resistance.
12、Polyetherimide has very good resistance to ultraviolet rays and Y rays.
Properties of Carbon Fibre reinforced plastics
1) high strength, good elasticity: the specific strength of carbon fiber (i.e. the ratio of tensile strength to density) is 6 times that of steel, 17 times that of aluminum; specific modulus (i.e. the ratio of Young’s modulus to density, a sign of how elastic the object is) is more than 3 times that of steel or aluminum. In addition, its compression rate and resilience are greater than that of pure F-4 and its braiding.
2) Good fatigue and wear resistance: its fatigue resistance characteristics, are much higher than epoxy resin, but also higher than metal materials; graphite fibers have self-lubricating properties, the coefficient of friction is very small, its wear and tear than the general asbestos products or F-4 braid 5 ~ 10 times smaller.
3) Good thermal conductivity and heat resistance: carbon fiber reinforced plastic has good thermal conductivity, the heat generated by friction is easily dissipated, the internal is not easy to overheat and heat storage, it can be used as a dynamic sealing material. In the air, it can work stably in the temperature range of -120~350℃. With the reduction of alkali metal content in carbon fiber, the use temperature may be further increased; in inert gas, it can adapt to temperatures up to about 2000℃ and can withstand rapid changes in heat and cold.
4) Good vibration resistance: not easy to resonate or chatter, is also an excellent material for vibration and noise reduction.
