不同塑胶料耐温分布图Zeus_High_Temp.pdf

T E C H N I C A L W H I T E P A P E R Performance of High Temperature Plastics Introduction Plastics are not often considered for high temperature applications because of the common misconception that they are only suitable for low temperatures. Despite this, some specific families of plastics are not only suitable for high temperature applications but can also be more suitable than the traditional materials. What are High Temperatures for Plastics? For plastics, the definition of ‘high temperature’ is taken to mean ‘any temperature above 135°C and it is true that the majority of available plastics are suitable only for use at temperatures below this value. These plastics are generally called the ‘commodity’ plastics and constitute by far the largest volume of plastics used in the world today. Despite this, the last few years have seen a rise in the importance of ‘engineering’ plastics and these have significantly improved performance at temperatures above 135°C. The table at right gives the approximate upper limit for the service temperature of a range of plastics families and the engineering plastics show significant improvements in service temperature over the commodity plastics. Service Temperature Assigning a maximum service temperature to any plastic should be undertaken with care. At high temperatures plastics not only soften but can also start to thermally degrade. A plastic that softens at a high temperature but which starts to degrade at a much lower temperature can only be considered for applications below the temperature at which it starts to degrade. Specifying the service temperature also requires knowledge of the thermal degradation performance of the material. The physical ‘softening point’ of a plastic is defined largely by the type of plastic being used. For amorphous polymers (such as Ultem®, PMMA or PS) the important temperature is Tg – the glass transi