Engineering plastics trends

Stereolithography The trend is to develop UV-curable materials that mimic engineering plastics, such as polycarbonate or ABS (see below). 

While the plasticizers sector (which is almost totally bound up with PVC) has been dominated in recent years by controversy over the use of phthalates, there has been significant development in systems based on other materials, such as polymeric plasticizers. Lubricants and processing aids also come into this classification, where the trend is towards adaptation to other plastics compounds, both standard and engineering plastics, and new systems that reduce or overcome migration, for use especially in food contact and medical/ healthcare applications. 

In principle, engineering plastics and high performance polymers are affected by these trends in the same way, as the margin development for polyesters and polyacetal shows (see Figure 1.10.)... 

There are many t3rpes of polymer alloys involving commercial products, development products, and samples. It is estimated that the total production in Japan was 62,0001 in 1991. The amomit of money involved is estimated as 60 billion. Recently automotive plastics are changing to commodity materials in the area of interior parts. Engineering plastics for external parts show a consistent growth. It might be expected that recent trend will continue and will contribute to the development of new alloys with improved heat resistance, impact resistance, chemical resistance, and processability. 

Globalisation in key end user markets such as automotive, electrical electronics and domestic appliances, are encouraging the process of market concentration and globalisation in engineering plastic supply. The trend toward globalisation in end user markets means that customers are becoming more powerful and demanding of their suppliers. 

In common with other engineering plastics, POM prices have been moving downward since the early 1990s. At the end of 1991, natural grade POM cost just over 3,500 per tonne. Prices have since fluctuated in response to changes in industry supply and demand, but the overall trend is lower. In December 2002, natural POM prices were between 2,150-2,500 per tonne. Glass reinforced grades cost up to 300 per tonne more. 

There are several main trends encouraging greater use of engineering plastics in medical applications. 

The trends in market concentration vary by plastic type. The more mature plastics such as polyamide, ABS, PBT and acrylics, saw an increase in the degree of market concentration during the period 1999-2000, following a series of mergers and acquisitions. In contrast, the fastest growing plastic types such as PPS, PEEK and liquid crystal polymers, have witnessed an increase in the number of suppliers as new companies have entered the market. The process of market consolidation in all types of engineering plastics markets is expected to continue in future. 

The trend to replacement of metals by engineering plastics continues (Fig. 5) and shows no signs of slowing. Extrapolation to the year 2000 suggests that by that time 50% of metal parts will be replaced by polymers. 

The world demands for thermoplastic elastomers are forecast to expand by 7.5% per year to 2.6 million metric tons in 2006. TPEs will continue to find the majority of their applications as replacements for natural and synthetic rubbers, as well as rigid thermoplastics and metals. The global TPE industry will remain heavily concentrated in the USA, Western Europe and Japan, particularly for specialty materials, such as polyester elastomers. Prom the two trends of application of polyester elastomers as engineering plastics and functional materials, the second one is prioritized. In terms of engineering applications, the PEE production will remain closely related to the motor vehicle industry, sporting goods, hoses, and small household goods. 

Turpin F, Mison P, Sillion B (1996) Synthesis of linear polyimides using Diels-Alder polyaddition. In Feger C, Khojasteh MM, Molis SE (eds) Polyimides trend in materials and applcations (Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Polyimides). Society of Plastics Engineers Inc, Hopewell Jet, p 169... 

R. Dewil, K. Everaert, J. Baeyens,. The European plastic waste issue trends and toppers in its sustainable re-use. In Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering (2006), pp. 27-31... 

Modification of commercial polymers to enhance their toughness has become a major new field of polymer science. The commercial success of HIPS and ABS led to the development of a whole new group of mbber-toughened plastics (1-3). Chapter 1 provides trend data for the use of polypropylene (PP) resins as cost-effective replacement of engineering polymers. With the development of tailored polypropylene copolymers (see Chap. 2) and plastomers for impact modification (see Chap. 7), composites of fillers and fibrous reinforcement can be effectively toughened to compete with polyamide type products. 

Construction activities with building in recent years are mostly for both new residential and related repair/maintenance applications for the old, and these are much higher than for their civil engineering and non-residential uses, especially in the EU. There is a very big increasing trend in window and door applications in these cormtries (and, in addition, especially in China) and for this, PVC is expected to be the dominating plastic. After the first applications of smart windows in glazing, it is expected that the demand for this will be more towards the use of PC, rather than acrylics. 

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