Material Selection Requirements
During processing the material and the part may encounter high humidity and routinely used shop chemicals that are not compatible with it. High moisture content in some condensation type plastics like nylon, polyester, and polycarbonate can be very damaging at processing temperatures. Hydrolysis occurs and the molecular chains of the material are shortened resulting in lower molecular weights and loss of properties. Shop chemicals like mold release agents and contaminants like hydraulic oil and greases from the processing equipment can have detrimental effect on your parts if they are not chemically compatible to your material. Sometimes cleaning agents are used to clean contaminated parts which may be even more aggressive to the plastic. |