Lexan Polycarbonate Sheets are clear and tough
Polycarbonate plastic materials give you a unique balance of helpful features including high temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates in between commodity plastics and engineering materials.
Polycarbonate is a very long-lasting material. Even though it has tremendous impact-resistance, it possesses lower scratch-resistance and so a hard coating can be applied to polycarbonate eyeglasses and polycarbonate exterior vehicle equipment. The characteristics relating to polycarbonate are generally like those of Acrylic PMMA materials, except 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 it has better light transmission characteristics than many different types of glass.
Polycarbonate has a glass transition temperature of about 150 °C (302 °F), therefore it softens slowly above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools need to be held at high temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) in order to make strain- and stress-free products.
Unlike most other thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo dramatic shape changes without cracking or breaking. For this reason, it may be processed and formed at room temperature using sheet metal techniques, which include forming bends with a brake. Even for sharp angle bends having a tight radius, no heating is generally necessary. This makes it useful for prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are crucial, which may not be made from sheet metal. Understand that PMMA/Plexiglas, which is similar in looks to polycarbonate, but it is brittle and can't be bent with out a heating process.
The light weight of polycarbonate, compared with glass, has led to advancement of electronic touch screens that replace glass with polycarbonate, for use in mobile and portable devices. Such displays include newer e-ink and several LCD screens, though CRT, plasma screen and other LCD technologies generally still require glass for its higher melting temperature and its ability to be etched in finer detail.
Other miscellaneous items created 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 items are made from 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 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, these small pellets are heated until they melt and become a very thick liquid. The melted liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly injected into a mold, compressed under high pressure and cooled to produce a finished product , that only takes about a minute to complete.
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