Machinery and Equipment

Plastic materials for industrial machinery

Plastics offer a number of advantages for industrial machinery manufacturers. Materials must be reliable, long-lasting, and easy to fabricate for a broad range of machinery applications and operating environments.

Plastic materials are significantly lighter than metals, which reduces weight and saves energy costs for moving parts. Additionally, plastics tend to have good sound deadening characteristics, which allows machinery to run quieter. Plastic materials are tough and durable with many engineered to wear well and stand up to cleaning chemicals. There are low friction plastics that eliminate the need for external lubrication and detectable plastics for optical, metal, and x-ray detection systems.

Curbell Plastics supplies plastic materials and machined plastic parts for your automation, material handling, robotic, wastewater, textile, aggregate, timber, printing and labeling machinery, and much more.

Benefits of Plastic Materials for Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing:

  • Ease of fabrication
  • Noise reduction
  • Excellent bearing and wear characteristic
  • Lighter weight than metal
  • Dimensional stability
  • Impact resistance
  • Chemical and corrosion resistance
  • UV resistant grades
  • Detectable grades
  • FDA, USDA, and 3A Dairy compliant grades

PLASTIC MATERIALS FOR MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING

polycarbonate-sheet-clear

Polycarbonate

Transparent, strong and stiff thermoplastic with outstanding impact resistance.

acrylic_group-clear

Acrylic

Outstanding strong, stiff, clear plastic available in a variety of brilliant colors and finishes.

uhmw-sheets-multicolor

UHMW

Extremely tough abrasion resistant, low cost plastic, used for a wide range of wear applications.

ldpe-sheet-natural

LDPE

Soft, flexible, lightweight plastic material that is easy to fabricate and form.

acetal-sheet-rod-tube-bw

Acetal

High strength, stiff, low friction engineering plastic with good wear properties.

nylon-group-castnylon

Nylon

Strong, stiff engineering plastic often used to replace metal bearings and bushings.

two stacked sheets of white polypropylene

Polypropylene

Low cost, chemical resistant plastic with excellent aesthetic qualities.

exp-pvc-sheets-gray

PVC

Strong, stiff, versatile low cost plastic material that is easy to fabricate, bond, and weld.

abs-sheet-black

ABS

Outstanding impact resistant low cost plastic, easy to machine, and thermoform.

pet-sheet-white

PET

A strong, dimensionally stable plastic with outstanding chemical resistance and wear properties.

ptfe-group-white

PTFE

Low friction engineering plastic with outstanding chemical, high temperature, and weathering resistance.

peek-sheet-rod

PEEK

Strong, stiff plastic with outstanding chemical resistance; performs over a wide range of temperatures.

pbt-sheet-natural

PBT

Strong, stiff plastic, excellent machining characteristics, bearing and wear, and chemical resistance.

Plastic Applications for Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing

  • Bearings
  • Bobbins
  • Bushings
  • Chain guides
  • Chute liners
  • Electrical insulators
  • Flexible tubing
  • Gears
  • Guide rails
  • Machine guards
  • Pulleys
  • Screw conveyor liners
  • Sprockets
  • Star wheels
  • UHMW profiles
  • Wear strips
  • Winders

Transparent Machine Guards

Polycarbonate and acrylic sheet are ideal choices for machine guards. They are far more durable than glass and are easy to fabricate and install. Acrylic and polycarbonate are available with hard-coated surfaces that enhance both chemical resistance and scratch resistance.

Plastics for Friction and Wear Applications

Plastics such as UHMW, nylon, and acetal have low friction and outstanding wear characteristics, even in the absence of external lubrication. These materials are widely used where wear resistance and smooth operation is essential.

UHMW is tough and durable performing well in applications where low friction and excellent wear performance are required. LubX® CV is a special grade of UHMW with lower friction and superior wear properties compared with standard UHMW.

Acetal is easy to machine into complex shapes, has low friction and superior strength and stiffness compared with UHMW.

Nylon has outstanding wear characteristics, particularly when it is in contact with metal in dry environments and is often used for gears, bearings, and bushings, when long wear life is required and external lubrication needs to be avoided. Nylon is also available in oil-filled and solid lubricant-filled grades.

Semicrystalline PET has strength and stiffness similar to nylon and acetal, however it has superior dimensional stability and stain resistance. It is often specified for tight tolerance food processing machinery applications.

Continue Your Research

Not sure which materials best fit your needs?

Our experienced sales and technical teams are available to assist you with material selection challenges.

FAQs

Will plastic materials stand up to wash-down solutions and other chemicals?

Which plastics are FDA compliant?

Which plastic materials are the most dimensionally stable and can achieve the tightest tolerances?

Which plastic materials can be used in high temperature environments?

Which plastics have the best wear characteristics?

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Curbell Plastics, Inc. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. All other trademarks, service marks and logos used herein are property of their respective owners. All rights hereto are retained by Curbell Plastics and any third party owners of such rights. All statements, technical information and recommendations contained in this publication are for informational purposes only. Curbell Plastics, Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein and it is the customer's responsibility to conduct its own research and make its own determination regarding the suitability of specific products for any given application.

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