Material Info

Material Group - Plastic

It is really hard to imagine life today without plastics, organic materials based on synthetic or natural high-molecular compounds (polymers). Plastic products surround us everywhere. Step by step, plastics have replaced traditional materials in many industrial fields, and today plastic is considered of the most important structural materials. Manufacturing plastic parts is connected mostly with chemical processes; however, for some cases machining is also required. From the point of view of technology, there are three major classes of plastics: thermoplastics, thermosets, and elastomers. According to their use, plastics may be divided into commodity plastics and engineering plastics. Machining is more common for producing parts from engineering plastics, which are represented primarily by thermoplastics. Plastics have very good machinability. In comparison with metals, cutting plastics is performed usually with much higher speeds and feeds, while the applied cutting tools feature significantly less wear. However, selecting appropriate cutting tools is essential to obtain the accuracy required and excellent surface finish.