Material Selection Requirements
You may have to consider some special issues during the material selection process that are unique to a particular application. If transparency is one of the prerequisite of the material, your material choices may be limited to a few or many according to the degree of transparency required. If the application needs surface metallization, painting or printing the material selection process may be affected. For electrical devices, business machines etc., flammability may be an issue. For medical devices, sterilization capability of the chosen material may be of great importance. Parts requiring tight tolerances may be better molded in materials exhibiting isotropic and low shrinkage and those that are not prone to warpage. Application requirements may also dictate if regrind can be used. If it can be used, you should know the ways how not to sacrifice part quality substantially. Also, it would be prudent to know how to keep the right perspective on true part cost instead of focusing on material cost only. Ignorance of different agency requirements, compliance with their regulations and conformation to the standards developed by them has created many headaches for engineers at advanced stages of project development. Using the checklist for all the special requirements at the time of material selection will aid you in the process of making the appropriate material choices for your application. |