Polycarbonate Extrusion Profiles

 

Extruding Polycarbonate Profiles

 

Polycarbonate is an advanced material. Thus, when considering polycarbonate profiles for an extrusion project, you need to ensure that your manufacturer has experience in extruding polycarbonate! And Keller Products can deliver. We have years of experience in both designing AND manufacturing polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate is an excellent material for plastic profiles. Polycarbonate profiles have incredible stiffness, toughness, impact resistance, and are clear. Polycarbonate profiles have excellent colorability with a beautiful gloss finish that can mimic glass and metal. Polycarbonate profiles have very good electrical insulation characteristics, do not burn readily, and some people claim that Polycarbonate can be considered “self-extinguishing.” Additionally, Polycarbonate profiles have excellent dimensional stability and service temperatures close to 300° F.

Extrusion Polycarbonate profiles can be used outdoors, but some yellowing in clear Polycarbonate profiles can occur after years of use. Polycarbonate profiles have fair to good resistance to solvents but may tend to stress crack upon exposure to certain chemicals. Polycarbonate profiles have good stain resistance to coffee, tea, fruit juices, inks, soaps, detergents, and cosmetics.

Extrusion Polycarbonate Profile Markets

Recycled Extrusions Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate Profiles

Extruding Polycarbonates:

were initially developed in the late 19th century. However, they were not effectively commercialized until the 1950s. Since then, polycarbonates have been heavily employed in many industries, including automotive, aerospace, construction, and electrical components. Some of the main advantages of polycarbonate profiles are:

  • Outstanding toughness
  • Temperature resistance up to 250 degrees F
  • Transparency
  • Good stiffness relative to other plastic materials

 

Polycarbonate Extrusion:

is more expensive than other plastic compounds, but in most cases, it is worth the extra investment because of its advantages. Some more unique benefits of polycarbonate profiles include:

  • Superior impact strength
  • Ability to reduce wall thickness up to 25% without sacrificing any properties
  • High degree of elasticity; resistant to denting and kinking when bent upon itself

 

Extruding Polycarbonate Profiles:

also have excellent electrical properties and light transmittance values—typically ranging from 86-90%. In addition, flame retardant grades are available, along with special grades that are clear AND flame retardant (typically used in the transportation industry). Polycarbonate profiles present unique manufacturing challenges—they must be dried well below recommended levels to maintain maximum impact strength. In polycarbonate profiles, the gloss levels of the finished product are typically high. At Keller Plastics, we can overcome this by using special additives that will result in a profile with a matte finish if desired. When considering polycarbonate profiles for an extrusion project, you need to ensure that your manufacturer has experience in extruding polycarbonate! Keller Products has extensive experience in both designing and manufacturing polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate Extrusions:

are extremely versatile. Typical polycarbonate profiles uses include football helmets, exit lights, bulletproof glass, skylights, and firefighting equipment. It is truly one of the toughest plastic materials available today. Check out our Markets Served page for a full list of polycarbonate plastic extrusions markets.

ABS Profiles

ABS extrusion creates wonderful, easy-to-use, all-around plastic material based on three materials. The material has good impact strength along with good rigidity. ABS is relatively lightweight, has great colorability and is used in the automotive industry for household appliances, and can be electroplated. ABS extrusion creates ABS profiles that do not have the greatest chemical resistance, do not like years of sunlight exposure, and have an upper service temperature of about 180° (F). We offer a non-halogenated flame retardant grade of ABS plastic to produce RoHS compliant ABS profiles.

Through ABS extrusion, we provide ABS profiles for several customer applications. Some consider ABS profiles as lower-cost replacements for Polycarbonate. ABS plastics through ABS extrusion can be used as an alternative to PVC in many applications.

ABS Profile Markets

ABS Profiles

ABS, short for Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, is a common thermoplastic produced through ABS extrusion. This does not mean it is easy to run, however. ABS is another advanced profiles type that requires experience and precise engineering. Our skilled team of engineers has immense experience running all types of thermoplastics, including ABS. We’ve designed ABS plastic extrusions for a variety of purposes through ABS extrusion. Take a look at our Markets Served page for a full list of ABS markets we’ve served in the past. Plastic extrusions are our business, and ABS profiles are no exception.

Nylon Profiles

This polymer was first invented by DuPont (E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) back in the 1930s. There are several Nylons available that have some very interesting properties (Nylon 11, Nylon 12, and Amorphous Nylon [clear]) that are suitable for nylon extrusion. The two most common Nylons are Nylon 6 and 6, 6. The most common grade used for Nylon profiles is Nylon 6 since it typically has a slightly better melt strength and is suitable for nylon extrusion.

Nylon created through nylon extrusion is extremely tough and impact-resistant and exhibits good abrasion resistance (fishing line and weed trimmer line). Nylon profiles have excellent solvent resistance but keep in mind it will absorb moisture which will affect its stiffness — lower it. Nylon is pretty good for outdoor use with the proper stabilization package for nylon extrusion. It does not typically have the stiffness that a Polycarbonate or ABS would have, so be careful in selecting it for applications that require stiffness. Glass can be added to Nylon through nylon extrusion to increase its stiffness, but that sometimes hurts the surface finish, especially in nylon extrusion.

Extruded Nylon Profile Markets

 

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