Lexan Polycarbonate Sheet offering light weight and break resistance
Bayer Makrolon Polycarbonate products offer a unique balance of useful features which include temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates in between commodity plastic materials and engineering plastics.
Polycarbonate is a very high quality material. Although it offers very high impact-resistance, it has minimal scratch-resistance and so a hard coating may be applied to polycarbonate eyewear and polycarbonate exterior vehicle components. The characteristics of polycarbonate are generally similar those of common Acrylic materials, although polycarbonate is always stronger, it is usable in a wider temperature range and is a bit more expensive. This plastic polymer is highly transparent to visible light and it has better light transmission characteristics than many kinds of glass.
Polycarbonate has a glass transition temperature of approximately 150 °C (302 °F), as a result it softens gradually above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools must be held at high temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to help with making strain- and reduced stress products.
Unlike many thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo large changes in basic shape without breaking. Because of this, it can be processed and formed cold using standard sheet metal techniques, for example forming bends with a brake. For even sharp angle bends with a tight radius, no heating is usually necessary. This makes it useful for prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are necessary, which cannot be created from sheet metal. Keep in mind that PMMA/Plexiglas, that is certainly similar in appearance to polycarbonate, but it's brittle and can't be bent unless it is heated.
The light weight of polycarbonate, unlike glass, has led to advancement of electronic view screens that replace glass with polycarbonate, for use in mobile and portable devices. Such displays include newer e-ink and a few LCD screens, though CRT, plasma screen and other LCD technologies generally still require glass for its higher melting temperature and the ability to be etched with finer detail.
Other miscellaneous items manufactured from Polycarbonate include durable, lightweight luggage, MP3/digital audio player cases, computer cases, high impact riot shields, instrument panels, and common style blender jars. Many toys and hobby items are made out of polycarbonate parts, e.g. fins, gyro mounts, and flybar locks for use with radio-controlled helicopters.
For use in applications subjected to weathering or UV-radiation, a special surface treatment is needed. This can be a coating (e.g. for improved abrasion resistance), or perhaps the coextrusion for enhanced weathering resistance.
Bayer Makrolon Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that begins as a solid material in the form of small pellets. In a manufacturing process called injection molding, these small pellets are heated until they melt. The liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly pushed into a mold, compressed under high pressure and cooled to produce a finished product in less than a minute.
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