Processing of Thermoplastics and Thermosets

The operation by which solid or liquid polymers are converted to finished products is generally known as polymer processing. Polymer processing consists of several 

1) Preshaping operations involving all or some of the following individual operations  

The common goal of the above operations is to deliver thermoplastics or cross-linkable thermosets in a deformable fluid state that will allow them to be shaped by a die or mold thereafter, they can be solidified by cooling below Tg or (thermoplastics) or by a chemical reaction (thermosets). 

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Manufacturing techniques of plastic composites can be divided into two parts processing of thermoplastics and thermosetting composites. There are certainly similarities between the processing of plastics (outlined in the previous section) and plastics composites, as well as between the processing of thermoplastics and thermosetting composites. For this reason, and to avoid duplication, whenever a different technique is involved for any one of them, it will be noted. 

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