Plastics Flashcards
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Properties
THERMOFORMING Light, strong, tough polyester. Used for see through drink bottles, fibres for clothes
High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) properties
THERMOFORMING Rigid and fairly cheap. Used for vacuum forming and fabricating boxes like CD cases or smoke detector casings.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) properties
THERMOFORMING Quite brittle, cheap and durable. Used for blister packs, window frames, vinyl records and some clothing.
Polypropylene (PP) properties
THERMOFORMING Quite tough and flexible. Can be made in a wide variety of bright colours. Used for plastic chairs and children’s outdoor toys
Acrylic (PMMA) properties
THERMOFORMING Hard, brittle, shiny, available in a wide range of colours. Resists weather well, can be cut, folded and polished well, scratches easily, used for car lights, visors and baths.
High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) properties
THERMOFORMING Stiff and strong but lightweight. Used for washing up bowls, baskets, folding chairs, and gas/water pipes.
Urea formaldehyde (UF) properties
THERMOSETTING Hard, brittle and a good electrical insulator. Used for things like plug sockets and cupboard handles.
Melamine Formaldehyde (MF) properties
THERMOSETTING Strong and scratch resistant. Used to laminate chipboard and for plates and bowls.
Phenol formaldehyde (PF) properties
THERMOSETTING hard, heat resistant, easily moulded. Used for bottle caps, snooker balls, can be mixed with other materials to form a composite
Polyester resin (PR) properties
THERMOSETTING Hard, stiff, cheap and a good electrical insulator. Added to glass fibres to form glass-reinforced plastic, e.g. for kayaks. Waterproof, so used in shower stalls and garden furniture.
6rs
repair, recycle, reuse rethink reduce refuse
planned obsolescence
the strategy of deliberately designing products to fail in order to shorten the time between purchases
carbon footprint
the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by making, using, reusing and recycling or disposing a product
Thermoforming plastic properties
Don’t resist heat well, easily formed into shapes by heating/melting/remoulding. This means they are easily recycled.
Thermosetting plastic properties
resists heat and fire, undergoes chemical change when heated and moulded so they become permanently hard and rigid (non recyclable)
