{"id":1753,"date":"2020-05-06T15:11:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T14:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/?p=1753"},"modified":"2024-09-03T14:38:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T13:38:45","slug":"acrylic-still-performing-75-years-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/material-of-the-month\/acrylic-still-performing-75-years-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Acrylic:  Still Performing 75 Years On"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><b>ACRYLIC DURING WARTIME\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Watching the emotional footage of the RAF Spitfire and Hurricane flypast Captain Tom Moore\u2019s home in Marston last week, we thought it only right (and timely with<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veday75.org\/\">VE Day<\/a><\/strong> 75 today) that we celebrate one of the fabulous materials discovered and used on aircraft in the early days of WWII \u2026 acrylic!<\/p>\n<h3><strong>PREFERABLE EQUIVALENT TO GLASS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As a lighter, impact resistant and rigid equivalent to glass, acrylic has always offered product designers, engineers and innovators plenty of advantages.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they used it during World War II (on both sides!) on air and underwater based frontline machinery; submarine periscopes, turrets, airplane windows and airplane canopies.<\/p>\n<p>Half the weight of glass, acrylic canopies were introduced shortly before WWII on the Supermarine Spitfire and Westland Whirlwind and are still used on fighter aircraft today, giving pilots better visibility, even when consistently exposed to adverse weather conditions, higher impact strength (acrylic withstands much more energy before breaking), greater peripheral vision and a lot safer than glass when shattered.<\/p>\n<p>More well-known by its trademark terms Plexiglas\u00ae and Perspex, acrylic \u2013 or PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) as our product design geeks refer to it \u2013 offers<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/what-we-do\/design\/product-design\/\">product innovation<\/a> <\/strong>and development teams fabulous properties when it comes to material selection for<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/what-we-do\/moulding\/plastic-injection-moulding\/\">plastic injection moulding<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>projects.<\/p>\n<h3><b>ACRYLIC IN UK MANUFACTURING<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>PMMA is often used in UK manufacturing and suggested in the design for manufacturing process because of its\u2019 increased transparency, UV and scratch resistance.\u00a0 Commonly found moulded over cars\u2019 rear lights, instrument clusters in vehicles, lenses, medical devices and as enclosures for exhibits.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve recommended the use of it in many projects, including for UK developer and manufacturer of advanced yachting instrumentation systems<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/project\/injection-moulded-components\/\">B&amp;G<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong> The<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/about\/\">BEC team<\/a> <\/strong>have worked closely with their product innovation team for over 30 years, manufacturing a wide range of plastic injection moulded products including injection moulded components.<\/p>\n<p>As engineers we find acrylic easier to machine, drill and with a little heat can be easily moulded and shaped.\u00a0\u00a0 But decades in this game have taught us that it is always worth checking external factors which can affect the end product in its final environment.\u00a0 Whilst acrylic is great, some chemicals can be detrimental to its performance and can affect it badly, but our product design and development team have loads of experience and can help with that:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Excellent transparency<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Good optical qualities<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Weather resistance very good (retains optical clarity for many years)<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Flexibility and dimensional stability<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Good resistance to scratching\/abrasion (coatings available to improve it!)<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> UV resistant<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> BPA-Free alternative to Polycarbonate<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Food contact grades available<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Can be brittle compared to other resins<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Symbol;\">\u00b7<\/span><\/span> Not the best chemical resistance<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you know? <\/strong><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\">The deep-sea submarine Trieste had conical windows made from acrylic \u2013 17cm thick!\u00a0 In the Mariana Trench (the deepest oceanic trench on Earth!) at a depth of 30,000 feet the pressure was more than 6 tons per square inch!\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty strong!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If a lighter, flexible alternative to glass is what you\u2019re after, then perhaps acrylic is the right material for your NPI? Call our team of plastic injection moulding experts to discuss further, we\u2019d love to help (and we love a challenge!).\u00a0 Give us a call on: 01425 613131 or <strong><a href=\"mailto:hello@becgroup.com\">email<\/a> <\/strong>us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Material of the Month:  Celebrating acrylic in all its forms&#8230;&#8230;. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.becgroup.com\/material-of-the-month\/acrylic-still-performing-75-years-on\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-material-of-the-month"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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