Advantages and disadvantages of plastic products

Advantages of plastic products

1) Easy to process, easy to manufacture (easy to form)

Even if the geometry of the plastic part is quite complex, as long as it can be removed from the mold, it is relatively easy to make. Therefore, its efficiency is far better than metal processing, especially injection molding products, after a process, you can produce a very complex finished product.

2) Can be colored as needed, or made of transparent products

The use of plastic can make colorful, transparent and beautiful products, which can be colored arbitrarily, improve the value of its goods, and give people a sense of fashion.

3) Can be made into light and high strength products

Compared with metal and ceramic products, it has light weight, good mechanical properties and high strength (ratio of strength to density), so it can be made into lightweight high-strength products. Especially after filling glass fiber, it can improve its strength. In addition, due to the light weight of plastic, it can save energy, so its products are becoming lighter.

4) No rust, not easy to corrode

Plastic is generally resistant to various chemicals and will not rust or be corroded as easily as metal. Do not worry about acid, alkali, salt, oil, drugs, moisture and mold erosion when using.

5) Not easy to heat transfer, good insulation performance

Because the specific heat of plastic is large, the thermal conductivity is small, and the heat transfer is not easy, so its heat preservation and heat insulation effect is good.

6) Both conductive parts and insulating products can be made

Plastic itself is a good insulating substance, and it can be said that there is no electrical product that does not use plastic. However, if the plastic is filled with metal powder or debris to form, it can also be made into a product that conducts electricity well.

7) Shock absorption, sound attenuation performance, good light transmission

Plastic has excellent shock absorption and noise reduction properties; Transparent plastic (such as :PMMA, PS, PC, etc.) can be made of transparent plastic products (such as: lenses, signs, cover plates, etc.).

8) Low manufacturing cost

Although the plastic raw material itself is not so cheap, because the plastic is easy to process, the equipment cost is relatively low, so it can reduce the cost of the product.

Disadvantages of plastic

1) Poor heat resistance, easy to burn

This is the biggest disadvantage of plastic, compared with metal and glass products, its heat resistance is far inferior, the temperature is slightly higher, it will be deformed, and it is easy to burn. When burned, most plastics can produce a lot of heat, smoke and toxic gases; Even thermosetting resins will smoke above 200 degrees Celsius and produce flaking.

2) As the temperature changes, the properties will also change greatly

High temperature is needless to say, even in the event of low temperature, various properties will be greatly changed.

3) Low mechanical strength

Compared with the same volume of metal, the mechanical strength is much lower, especially thin products, this difference is particularly obvious.

4) Easy to be corroded by special solvents and drugs

In general, plastics are less susceptible to corrosion by chemicals, but some plastics (such as :PC, ABS, PS, etc.) have particularly poor properties in this regard; In general, the corrosion resistance of thermosetting resins is quite strong.

5) Poor durability and easy aging

Whether it is strength, surface gloss or transparency, it is not durable, and there is creep under load. In addition, all plastics are afraid of ultraviolet rays and sunlight, and will age under the action of light, oxygen, heat, water and atmospheric environment.

6) Easily damaged, also easily contaminated with dust and dirt

The surface hardness of plastics is relatively low, easy to be damaged; In addition, because it is an insulator, it has static electricity, so it is easy to be contaminated with dust.

7) Poor dimensional stability

Compared with metal, plastic shrinkage rate is very high, so it is difficult to ensure dimensional accuracy. During the use of moisture, moisture absorption or temperature changes, the size is easy to change with time.

If you are in the process of designing a new product and do not know whether to choose plastic material or metal material to produce the product, please contact our engineers, our engineers will provide solutions to you according to your cost budget and the best result of the product, our factory can produce various plastic parts and hardware parts for you.