Plastics are one of the materials that have re-defined the world, look around you’ll see plastic in various forms, doing all sorts of jobs. Most plastic is synthetic , i.e. Manufactured, and whilst this is not always the case, it is likely that plastic you see day-to-day or perhaps encounter in industry is manufactured plastic.
Some of the most common plastics are known as engineering plastics. Engineering plastic differs from non-engineering plastic, or commodity plastic, in that it has certain properties that make it ideal for certain industrial practices or engineering purposes. Therefore you get engineering as component parts as opposed to for use in packaging etc.
What are the unique properties of an engineering plastic?
Engineering plastic is given it’s unique properties often through the use of additives. Briefly, additives are combined with polymers (the main constituent of engineering plastic) to give plastics special properties. These properties could be anything from color to better flame resistance or flexibility.
Without going into too much detail, there are a few kinds of additives. For instance, some additives use chemical reactions to achieve their effects, these include flame retardants or antioxidants. Other kinds of additives adjust the properties of a plastic physically such as lubricants.
There are various specific kinds of engineering plastic on the market, supplied by various plastic suppliers. One example is PET-P. This specific plastic is advantageous because it has properties such as low water absorption, good wear resistance and dimensional stability.
