Plexiglas, perspex or even, erroneously, plexiglass or plex, will amaze many of you to know that we are talking about the same product: methacrylate. The first two mentioned are none other than brands, perhaps the best known for “seniority”, the first to enter our country, the others, along with an innumerable list of additional names, form the vast vocabulary that from year to year has enriched the world of acrylic.
In fact today, for the end user, there is no difference between the various brands, the cast methacrylate has reached the optimal chemical formula that makes it pure and brilliant in the years regardless of the manufacturer, perhaps the only ones to recognize the differences are we artisans who work it; odor issues when it is cut or milled, hard when brushed or softened when it is thermoformed.
In reality, when you start to know the various plastics, you begin to recognize them from these details. These are the differences between one brand and another for us. They do not necessarily determine a better quality, but fundamental differences, for different processes.
Properties
But let’s try to understand this product better. In the common language the term methacrylate generally refers to this polymer. Thickness and colors of sheets and sheets of plexiglass.
As a rule it is very transparent, more so than glass, which has behavioral characteristics similar to optical fiber for the quality of transparency, and with the property of being more or less in different percentages, unbreakable depending on its mix. For these characteristics it is used in the manufacture of safety glass and similar items, in accident prevention, in furnishing or architectural objects in general.
Perspex Sheets Sydney is often used as an alternative to glass; some of the differences between the two materials are as follows: density: that of PMMA is 1.19 g/cm3, about half that of glass and is unbreakable, softer and more sensitive to scratches and abrasions.
It can be molded for heating at relatively low temperatures (about 100 ° C) and is more transparent than glass to visible light. Unlike glass, PMMA does not stop ultraviolet light, when necessary it is specially produced with special formulas.
Transparent
Perspex Sheets Sydney are transparent to infrared light up to 2800 nm, while the light of longer wavelengths is substantially blocked. There are specific PMMA formulations designed to block visible light and allow infrared light to pass through a given range of frequencies (used, for example, in remote controls and heat source detectors)
Pieces of methacrylate can be cold welded using cyanoacrylate based adhesives or by dissolving the surface layers with a suitable solvent – dichloromethane or chloroform. The joint that is created is almost invisible. The sharp edges of the PMMA can also be easily polished and made transparent.
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