Thermoset plastics phenolics

The thermosetting plastics—phenolics, polyesters and epoxies—are used at higher temperatures (about 150°C) and pressures than thermoplastics. They are finding ever increasing applications for process plant equipment. 

The thermoplastic or thermoset nature of the resin in the colorant—resin matrix is also important. For thermoplastics, the polymerisation reaction is completed, the materials are processed at or close to their melting points, and scrap may be reground and remolded, eg, polyethylene, propjiene, poly(vinyl chloride), acetal resins (qv), acryhcs, ABS, nylons, ceUulosics, and polystyrene (see Olefin polymers Vinyl polymers Acrylic ester polymers Polyamides Cellulose ESTERS Styrene polymers). In the case of thermoset resins, the chemical reaction is only partially complete when the colorants are added and is concluded when the resin is molded. The result is a nonmeltable cross-linked resin that caimot be reworked, eg, epoxy resins (qv), urea—formaldehyde, melamine—formaldehyde, phenoHcs, and thermoset polyesters (qv) (see Amino resins and plastics Phenolic resins). 

Can be further polymerised and processed into thermoset plastic products having higher impact properties than do phenolics... 

Important thermosetting plastics include the phenolics, melamine-formaldehyde, epoxides and polyester resins used in glass-reinforced plastics. (See also Sections 14.5 and 14.9.)... 

Well-known thermosetting plastics include the phenolics, urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde plastics, polyesters and epoxides. 

Thermoset Plastics Alkyd, amino resin, thermosetting acrylic resin, casein, epoxy, phenolic, polyester, polyamide, silicone. 

Thermosetting phenolic resins in wood, 26 355 Thermosetting plastics... 

Table 12.3 summarizes the uses of formaldehyde. Two important thermosetting plastics, urea- and phenol-copolymers, take nearly one half the formaldehyde manufactured. Urea-formaldehyde resins are used in particleboard, phenol-formaldehyde resins in plywood. 1,4-Butanediol is made for some polyesters and is an example of acetylene chemistry that has not yet been replaced. Tetrahydrofiiran (THF) is a common solvent that is made by dehydration of 1,4-butanediol. 

What was the first synthetic plastic Although some nineteenth-century experiments should be mentioned, such as the 1869 molding process for cellulose nitrate discovered by John and Isaiah Hyatt, probably the first major breakthrough came in 1910 with Leo Baekeland s discovery of phenol formaldehyde resins (Bakelite ). These are still the leading thermoset plastics made today. The pioneering work of Wallace Carothers at Du Pont in 1929 produced the nylons now used primarily as fibers but known as the beginning of thermoplastic resin technology. 

Most structural PMCs consist of a relatively soft matrix, such as a thermosetting plastic of polyester, phenolic, or epoxy, sometimes referred to as resin-matrix composites. Some typical polymers used as matrices in PMCs are listed in Table 1.28. The list of metals used in MMCs is much shorter. Aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and iron- and nickel-based alloys are the most common (see Table 1.29). These metals are typically utilized due to their combination of low density and good mechanical properties. Matrix materials for CMCs generally fall into fonr categories glass ceramics like lithium aluminosilicate oxide ceramics like aluminnm oxide (alnmina) and mullite nitride ceramics such as silicon nitride and carbide ceramics such as silicon carbide. 

Phenolic, epoxy, urea, melamine, and polyester (alkyd) polymers are cross-linked (thermoset) plastics. They are solvent-resistant and are not softened by heat. Unlike the thermoplastic step reaction polymers, which are produced by the condensation of two difunctional reactants, these network polymers are produced from reactants at least one of which has a degree of functionality higher than two. 

Commonly accepted practice restricts the term to plastics that serve engineering purposes and can be processed and reprocessed by injection and extrusion methods. This excludes the so-called specialty plastics, eg, fluorocarbon polymers and infusible film products such as Kapton and Upilex polyimide film, and thermosets including phenolics, epoxies, urea—formaldehydes, and silicones, some of which have been termed engineering plastics by other authors (4) (see Elastomers, synthetic-fluorocarbon elastomers Fluorine compounds, organic-tetrafluoroethylene copolymers with ethylene Phenolic resins Epoxy resins Amino resins and plastics). 

For commodity applications, there are four major classes of resins that are used in FRP applications. They are phenolic resin, epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin, and epoxy vinyl ester resins. A more complete description of these types of resins and their many variations can be found in Handbook of Thermoset Plastics. This is not a comprehensive list of resins used in composite manufacture, as commodity materials like polyurethanes and isocyanurate resins are sometimes used as well to make FRP parts. However, these materials are not covered in this chapter owing to their limited use, but, the principals of fire safety that apply for the resins described subsequently apply to these materials as well. 

TABLE 15.13 Thermoset Plastics Market TABLE 15.15 Phenolic Plastics Markets... 

Phenol-Formaldehyde. Phenolic plastics were the first commercial synthetic plastics in 1908, and were the leading commodity plastic for 40 years, until the growth of vinyl and styrenic thermoplastics (Table 15.15). Now quite mature, they remain the second largest family of thermoset plastics. 

Different foundry casting techniques are used. Included are plastic-based binders mixed with sand. Various types of molds and cores are produced that include no-bake or cold-box, hot-box, shell, and oven-cured. Usual binders are phenolic, furan, and thermoset polyester. There is the foundry shell casting, also called dry-mix casting. It is a type of process used in the foundry industry, in which a mixture of sand and plastic (phenolic, thermoset polyester, etc.) is placed on to a preheated metal pattern (producing half a mold) causing the plastic to flow and build a thin shell over the pattern. Liquid plastic pre-coated sand is also used. After a short cure time at high temperature, the mold is stripped from its pattern and combined with a similar half produced by the same technique. Finished mold is then ready to receive the molten metal. Blowing a liquid plastic/sand mix in a core-box also produces shell molds. 

The prepolymer concept, per se, is not new. In fact, the oldest synthetic polymer—Baekeland s phenolic resin—was made through an intermediate, soluble prepolymer. The major success of the newer systems is due to the use of well-defined prepolymer units and more versatile cross-linking mechanisms. The older thermoset plastics were randomly built up from their base monomers and therefore control of their growth and structure was difficult and limited. 

These early examples of pack-product device systems were made from glass, rubber, metal and thermosetting plastics such as urea and phenol formaldehyde. As mentioned earlier, a steady growth of pack administration systems was not possible until the arrival of thermoplastics in the 1950s. 

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