101 Guide to Plastic
WDS Components Complete Guide to Plastics.
Below, we cover the different types of plastic used in our components, from Thermoplastics to Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic. This guide will explain why each of them is used, their mechanical properties and how you can utilise them in a variety of industries.
Why are plastics used as a material of choice?
WDS components stock a wide variety of plastic parts used across almost every industry, including aerospace, pharmaceutical, medical, and packaging. Plastic is a durable, malleable, and versatile material that can be designed to meet the needs of millions. Here at WDS, we used two types of plastics; thermoplastics and thermoset plastics, which present different properties within the material.
This guide will highlight the types of plastics used in standard parts and components, the key properties of plastic and what applications it can be used for.
Types of Plastics covered in this guide:
- Polyoxymethylene (POM)
- Polyamide (Thermoplastic/Nylon/PA6)
- Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
- Polypropylene
- Glass Fibre Reinforced (Glass Reinforced Plastic/GRP)
- Bakelite
- Polyurethane
Polyoxymethylene
Acetal (polyoxymethylene), or POM for short, is a high-strength thermoplastic with good creep resistance, meaning this material has a significantly low tendency to deform. POM’s resistance to heat, water, chemical compounds, and abrasion makes it a very useful plastic in a variety of environments. Acetal also has quite a low coefficient of friction which (with other features) makes it useful for applications such as conveyors where full movement is needed with competing heavy forces.
WDS Components supply many parts that include acetals such as omni wheels, swivel pads, spring plungers with POM thrust pins and threaded lateral spring retainers. These products can be used in several industries such as manufacturing, processing packaging and electrical engineering. Parts made of POM are also ideal to use when the part will be exposed as POM plastics are favourably scratch-proof.
Polyamide
Polyamide (PA6) or Nylon is one of the most used thermoplastics around the globe. Its extensive use in the engineering world is due to its ability to replace metal in several applications, proving to be one of the most cost-effective materials available.
PA6 is a high-performance thermoplastic that exhibits excellent strength and rigidness even at high temperatures. It also has high abrasion and wear resistance making it a particularly applicable material to use in heavy-duty machine components. One of the distinct features of PA6 is its low density which enables the plastic to be used in automotive, electronics, packaging and other industrial goods. The most popular PA6 products by WDS include plastic leaf hinges, bridge handles, t-handles, hand wheels and grips.
Other Thermoplastics
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is an impact-resistant thermoplastic perfect for use in lightweight, yet rigid parts. The combination of polymers used to make this plastic gives it its stiffness and strength. ABS plastics also have superb resistance to corrosive chemicals such as diluted acids and alkalis, allowing them to be used in environments where these chemicals are constantly handled.
ABS is another thermoplastic that possesses good abrasion resistance and shock absorbance making it useful in logistics and warehousing, where volumes of heavy loads are processed regularly. ABS is used for WDS components’ popular parts like plastic skate wheels which are implemented into gravity roller conveyors, due to the outstanding impact resistance.
Polypropylene
Polypropylene (PP)is another thermoplastic stocked by WDS, selected due to its low density and good impact strength. This plastic also has good fatigue resistance, meaning PP can be used to bear heavy loads without worry of fracture. Like other thermoplastics, polypropylene also possesses good chemical resistance to diluted, concentrated acids and also to esters and oxidizing agents. PP is mostly used on machine components in medical and chemistry devices and also in sewage plants.
Additionally, polypropylene is 100% recyclable, which makes it a better environmental choice. Polypropylene makes up useful WDS Components like levelling feet and swivel castor wheels, available in a vast range of types and sizes.
Glass Fibre Reinforced
Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GRP) is a material comprised of glass fibres and plastic resin. This combination of materials results in a solid polymer, displaying excellent durability and a high strength-to-weight ratio. GRP is another extremely useful plastic as it also has good chemical resistance and corrosion resistance, proving to be a long-lasting choice. Reinforced plastic provides higher strength qualities than plastics that are not reinforced like polyamides.
Glass fibre-reinforced plastic is a cost-effective material that also displays exceptional resistance to impact and sudden damage. This reinforced material has been used to make a range of robust and reliable parts such as bridge handles, cam levers and pull knobs.
Bakelite
A popular plastic in our hand knobs and hand wheels range amongst our machine and hardware components is the notorious Bakelite plastic. Bakelite is the world’s first synthetic plastic which marked the introduction of the Polymer Age. Bakelite is a thermoset plastic which demonstrates an extraordinarily high resistance to electricity, heat and chemical action sincerely compliments the electrical and automobile industries. Not only does it have fantastic resistance qualities, but it also provides a bright finish when coloured.
Bakelite grips feature in many of our hand knob styles such as mushroom pull, star, control, wing and round. These scratch-resistant Bakelite parts can be used in plenty of different applications in machine and hardware, for example for safety levers and knobs, operational gear sticks, manual fastening and clamping.
Polyurethane
Polyurethane (PUR) plastic is a versatile material as it can be produced as a thermoplastic polyurethane and a thermoset polyurethane. When processed as a thermoplastic, PUR maintains excellent abrasion resistance whilst having good resistance to oil and water, suiting applications in industrial settings like oil processing. PUR plastic is favourably flexible and resilient, which is why it is most suited for load-bearing applications.
WDS stock polyurethane castor wheels which offer twice the capacity of standard nylon and rubber castors. Our range of polyurethane castor wheels have an operating load of between 300-350kgs and come in a range of non-marking, bright red models.
Our Colour Collection
In some cases, a splash of colour adds a brighter appearance to machinery and organisation. If elements need colour coding in a factory or warehouse, you can guarantee WDS will be there to help you out. We offer an assortment of colours for various plastic elements amongst our handles and hand knob ranges. Below you can see our colour collection and their RAL code (if you need additional colour information, use our online contact form to get in touch or give us a call at 0333 043 5443.