What is Acrylic or Plexiglass

Speaking of PMMA, some people may not have heard of it, but I believe that as long as you mention its other name: "acrylic" or "plexiglass", it will be very common. Acrylic is a plastic material that is as transparent as glass and has bright and rich colors. , brought huge changes to our lives. At the same time, it also opens the door to imagination for designers. When designers are no longer limited to bulky and difficult-to-control glass, transparency, a characteristic of glass, has gained unlimited imagination.

Below we interpret acrylic from three aspects:

1. Material properties and characteristics of acrylic

2. Acrylic product technology and specifications

3. Application fields of acrylic

Material properties and properties of acrylic

Acrylic, derived from English acrylic (acrylic plastic). The chemical name is polymethyl methacrylate. It is an important plastic polymer material developed earlier. It has good transparency, chemical stability and weather resistance, good hardness, easy dyeing, easy processing, and light transmittance. Strong, high printing adhesion, beautiful appearance, recyclable and other characteristics, it has a wide range of applications in various industries.

1. Acrylic has crystal-like transparency, with a light transmittance of more than 92%. The light is soft and the vision is clear. Acrylic dyed with dyes has a good color development effect.

2. Acrylic panels have excellent weather resistance, high surface hardness and surface gloss, and good high-temperature performance.

3. Acrylic sheets have good processing properties and can be either thermoformed or machined.

4. Transparent acrylic sheets have a light transmittance comparable to that of glass, but the density is only half that of glass. In addition, it is not as fragile as glass, and even if it is broken, it will not form sharp fragments like glass.

5. The wear resistance of acrylic plates is close to that of aluminum, with good stability and resistance to corrosion by various chemicals.

6. Acrylic sheets have good printability and sprayability. Using appropriate printing and spraying processes, acrylic products can be given ideal surface decoration effects.

7. Flame resistance: It does not spontaneously ignite but is flammable and does not have self-extinguishing properties.

8. Recyclable: Wasted acrylic can be returned to the furnace to remove impurities and add raw materials to make acrylic sheets for sale again.

Acrylic product technology and specifications

Acrylic boards are divided into two categories: cast boards and extruded boards according to production technology, and are divided into ordinary boards and special boards according to conventional rules.

1. Casting plate

Acrylic cast plates are produced by melting acrylic raw materials at high temperature and placing them in molds.

The production process of acrylic cast plate: acrylic raw material → heating and polymerization → cooling to normal temperature → pouring into the template (water bath, drying room, heating) → complete polymerization → release → lamination → packaging

Advantages of acrylic casting:

A.Has excellent stiffness

B.Excellent chemical resistance

C. The product specifications are very complete

D. Has very good transparency

E. Unparalleled flexibility in color and surface texture

Disadvantages of cast acrylic sheets

A. Since it is cast, the thickness of the plate has a large error.

B. The casting production process requires a large amount of water for cooling, which easily produces industrial sewage and pollutes the environment.

C. The size of the entire board is fixed, and the flexibility in producing boards of other specifications is poor, which easily causes the waste of board scraps, thereby increasing the unit price of the product.

2. Extrusion board

Acrylic extrusion boards are generally made by melting acrylic raw materials and then extruding them through high-temperature mechanical equipment.

The production process of acrylic extruded boards: acrylic raw materials → screw extruder (melting, plasticizing) → die → calendering → coating → cutting → packaging

Advantages of acrylic extruded sheets

A.Thickness tolerance is small

B. Suitable for single variety and mass production

C. The length of the board is adjustable and long boards can be produced.

D. Easy to bend and thermoform, which is beneficial to rapid vacuum molding when processing larger plates.

E. Mass production can reduce production costs and has great advantages in production size and specifications.

Disadvantages of extruded acrylic sheets

A. The extruded board has a lower molecular weight and weaker mechanical properties.

B. Since extruded boards are produced automatically in large quantities, the color cannot be adjusted easily, so the product is subject to certain color restrictions.

C. Both cast plates and extruded plates are a type of acrylic plate, and the colors of the plates are similar.

The difference between cast acrylic panels and extruded panels:

1. The transparency of cast plates is over 98%, while that of extruded plates is only over 92%.

2. There are no pitting on the edge of the cast plate, and the edge is very transparent; there will be pitting on the edge of the extruded plate, and the edge of the B-grade board of the extruded board can be seen to be yellow and black, while the edge of the A-grade board of the extruded board will be. Relatively dark.

3. Ordinary board

A. Ordinary boards are divided into transparent boards, dyed transparent boards, milky white boards, colored boards, etc.

B. Special boards include sanitary ware boards, cloud boards, mirror boards, fabric-ply boards, hollow boards, impact-resistant boards, flame-retardant boards, super wear-resistant boards, surface pattern boards, frosted boards, pearlescent boards, metal effect boards, etc.

Different performances, different colors and visual effects to meet ever-changing requirements.

Acrylic application fields

Regarding the application of acrylic, it covers almost all walks of life and is used in construction, interior decoration, advertising, transportation, medicine, industry, lighting, daily necessities, etc.

1. Architectural applications: building exteriors, showcases, soundproof doors and windows, lighting covers, phone booths, etc.

2. Interior decoration applications: ceilings, partitions, screens, sliding doors, transparent walls, hotel furniture, office furniture, bars, lighting, chandeliers, signs, signs, floors, landscapes, etc.

3. Advertising applications: light boxes, signs, signs, display racks, etc.

4. Transportation applications: doors and windows of trains, cars and other vehicles, etc.

5. Medical applications: baby incubators, various surgical medical instruments

6. Daily necessities: bathroom facilities, handicrafts, cosmetics, brackets, aquariums, etc.

7. Industrial applications: instrument surface panels and protective covers, etc.

8. Lighting applications: fluorescent lamps, chandeliers, street lampshades, etc.