Makrolon Polycarbonate products have a great blend of useful features including temp resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates between commodity plastics and engineering materials.
Polycarbonate is a very long-lasting material. Even though it has considerable impact-resistance, it has a lower scratch-resistance and so a hard coating is often applied to polycarbonate eyewear as well as polycarbonate exterior automotive components. The characteristics relating to polycarbonate tend to be like those of Acrylic PMMA materials, but polycarbonate is definitely 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 has better light transmission characteristics than several types of glass.
Polycarbonate carries a glass transition temperature near 150 °C (302 °F), as a result it softens gradually above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools ought to be held at warm to high temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to produce strain- and stress-free products.
Unlike many thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo dramatic deformations without breaking or cracking. As a result, it can be processed and formed without needing to be heated using standard sheet metal techniques, for example forming bends with a brake. Even for sharp angle bends having a tight radius, no heating is usually necessary. This makes it valuable in prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are important, which cannot be produced from sheet metal. Remember that PMMA/Plexiglas, that is similar in looks to polycarbonate, but is brittle and cannot be bent unless it is heated.
Polycarbonate is often used in eye protection, and also in other projectile-resistant see through applications that would normally be thought of as requiring the use of glass, but require much higher impact-resistance. Many kinds of lenses are produced from polycarbonate, including automotive headlamp lenses, lighting lenses, sunglass/eyeglass lenses, swimming and SCUBA goggles, and safety goggles for use in sporting helmets/masks and police riot gear. Windscreens in small motorized vehicles are normally manufactured from polycarbonate, such as for motorcycles, ATVs, golf carts, and small planes and helicopters.
Sheffield Plastics Polycarbonate Flat Sheet are clear and tough
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