Engineering Thermoset Plastics

Advanced Thermoplastics Materials. Thermoplastics and linear plastics of finite molecular weight that can be fabricated into very complex stmctures by hot melt or injection mol ding are different from the thermoset materials that require cross-linking to build up infinite molecular weight to form network (cross-link) stmctures. Advances in thermoplastic engineering materials include amorphous thermoplastics, crystalline thermoplastics, Hquid crystal thermoplastics, and fluorinated thermoplastics (see Engineering plastics). 

Commonly accepted practice restricts the term to plastics that serve engineering purposes and can be processed and reprocessed by injection and extmsion methods. This excludes the so-called specialty plastics, eg, fluorocarbon polymers and infusible film products such as Kapton and Updex polyimide film, and thermosets including phenoHcs, epoxies, urea—formaldehydes, and sdicones, some of which have been termed engineering plastics by other authors (4) (see Elastol rs, synthetic-fluorocarbon elastol rs Eluorine compounds, organic-tdtrafluoroethylenecopolyt rs with ethylene Phenolic resins Epoxy resins Amino resins and plastics). 

In recent years there has been some concern in the thermosetting material industry that usage of these materials is on the decline. Certainly the total market for thermoset compounds has decreased in Western Europe. This has happened for a number of reasons. One is the image that thermosets tend to have as old-fashioned materials with outdated, slow production methods. Other reasons include the arrival of high temperature engineering plastics... 

In particular, it should be noted that the past traditional equations that have been developed for other materials, principally steel, use the relationship that stress equals the modulus times strain, where the modulus is constant. Except for thermoset-reinforced plastics and certain engineering plastics, most plastics do not generally have a constant modulus of elasticity. Different approaches have been used for this non-constant situation, some are quiet accurate. The drawback is that most of these methods are quite complex, involving numerical techniques that are not attractive to the average designers. 

PET s broad range of properties make them ideal replacements in certain applications for such metals as die-cast aluminum or zinc also in thermoset switches, relays, sensors, etc. Applications include packaging (particularly stretched injection blow molded beverage bottles and film), appliances, electrical/electronics, etc. PET finds applications in such diverse end uses as fibers for clothing, films, botdes, food containers, and engineering plastics for precision molded parts.118-120 A wide range of applications is possible because of the excellent balance of properties PET possesses and because the degree of crystallinity and the level of orientation in the finished product can be controlled. 

Fortunately, the deficiencies of both the classic thermosets and general purpose thermoplastics have been overcome by the commercialization of a series of engineering plastics including polyacetals, polyamides, polycarbonate, polyphenylene oxide, polyaryl esters, polyaryl sulfones, polyphenylene sulfide, polyether ether ketones and polylmides. Many improvements in performance and processing of these new polymers may be anticipated through copolymerization, blending and the use of reinforcements. 

Engineering plastics, particularly thermosets, are also used in composite materials. Their excellent technological properties make them suitable for applications in cars, ships, aircraft, telecommunications equipment, etc. In recent years, important new areas of application for plastics have emerged in medicine (fabrication of artificial organs, orthopaedic implants, and devices for the controlled release of drugs), electronics (development of conductive poly-... 

Phenolic novolak resins have been also used as coreactants (hardeners) with epoxy resins to produce thermoset systems with high-quality "engineering plastic" properties. 

Thermoset composite systems of phenol and formaldehyde, some of which can he substituted for a number of structural applications can also be considered as engineering plastics and they have been in use for a very long time. In recent applications, improved urea - melamine resins have been used as matrices more and more for composite systems, because of their non-melting, high thermal and chemical resistances, hardnesses, mechanical-dimensional stabilities and low flammabilities. 

The family of plastics is classified several ways. The two major classifications are thermoplastics (TPs) and thermosets (TSs). Over 90wt% of all plastics used are TPs. The TPs and TSs in turn are classified as commodity or engineering plastics (CP and EP). Commodities such as polyethylenes (PEs), polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs), polypropylenes (PPs),... 

Thermosetting polyimides are one of the highest performing engineering plastics, exhibiting superior performance in applications requiring low wear and long life in severe environments. Polyimide materials feature ... 

Figure 33-6. Experience diagram for the relationship between the price, g, and the American annual production, Pr, in the year 1974 for commodity plastics (O), engineering plastics (0), thermosets ( ), and petroleum (0). (After H.-G. Elias.)...

Polyethylene and polypropylene are ubiquitous commodity plastics found in applications varying from household items such as grocery bags, containers, toys and appliance housings, to high-tech products such as engineering plastics, automotive parts, medical appliances and even prosthetic implants. They can be either amorphous or highly crystalline, and behave as thermoplastics, thermoplastic elastomers or thermosets. 

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