Plastics engineering
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Plastics engineering encompasses the processing, design, development, and manufacture of
In plastics engineering, as in most engineering disciplines, the economics of a product plays an important role. The cost of plastic materials ranges from the cheapest commodity plastics used in mass-produced consumer products to very expensive, specialty plastics. The cost of a plastic product is measured in different ways, and the absolute cost of a plastic material is difficult to ascertain. Cost is often measured in price per pound of material, or price per unit volume of material. In many cases, however, it is important for a product to meet certain specifications, and cost could then be measured in price per unit of a property. Price with respect to processibility is often important, as some materials need to be processed at very high temperatures, increasing the amount of cooling time a part needs. In a large production run, cooling time is very expensive.
Some plastics are manufactured from recycled materials but their use in engineering tends to be limited because the consistency of formulation and their physical properties tend to be less consistent. Electrical, electronic equipment, and motor vehicle markets together accounted for 58 percent of engineered plastics demand in 2003.[2] Engineered plastics demand in the US was estimated at $9,702 million in 2007.
A big challenge for plastics engineers is the reduction of the ecological footprints of their products. First attempts like the
Plastics engineering specialties
- Consumer plastics
- Medical plastics
- Automotive plastics
- Recycled or recyclable plastics
- Biodegradableplastics
- rubber
- Epoxies
- Plastics processing:
- Ultrasonic welding
See also
- Design of plastic components
- Economics of plastics processing
- Plastic
- Polymer chemistry
- Fields of engineering
- Engineering plastic
- Medical grade silicone
References
- ^ "Introduction of Plastics Engineering". Qingdao Haoteng Machinery Manufacture Co. Archived from the original on 2013-05-20. .
- ^ "Engineered Plastics :: Advanced Materials". mdmr.net. April 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- ^ "The VinyLoop Eco-Footprint Study" (PDF). solvayplastics.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2012-06-10.