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Polymers Polymers are large molecules, consisting of repeated chemical units, which are joined together – usually in a line. Polymers are traditionally used to make solid plastics and there are many ways in which these materials can be classified. One major classification is to split them into three major types of materials; thermoplastics, elastomers and thermosetting plastics. - Thermoplastics are materials which soften on heating and harden on cooling. This process can be repeated many times. Approximately 80% of the plastics used in the world are thermoplastics and this group can be further divided into; commodity thermoplastics, engineering thermoplastics, thermoplastic elastomers or rubbers and blends/alloys
- Thermosetting plastics are materials which, once shaped by heat and pressure, cannot be re-processed by further application of heat and pressure.
- Elastomers or rubbers are materials which can be stretched extensively, and which will return to their original shape once the stretching force is released. Once this property was always associated with vulcanised rubber but now thermoplastic elastomers can be designed to have the same properties.
Many plastics have long complex chemical names and for ease of use these are often shortened to use letters referring to part of the chemical name. For example Polyvinyl Chloride is usually referred to as PVC. For a list of common polymers and abbreviations in English, Italian, Spanish, German and French click here Polymers are normally processed by melt processes such as moulding and extrusion and can be modified significantly by the use of plastics additives. The Market for Thermoplastics The West European thermoplastics industry in 2003 represents a 31 million tonne plus business worth in excess of EUR 55 billion. The industry is subject to constant change as plastics seek to replace traditional materials and as plastics materials and techniques compete against each other in the marketplace for applications. Companies are constantly seeking to gain a competitive advantage both through the introduction of new materials or material grades or by the acquisition of other competitors’ business. Making sense of all this is a full time job but AMI are specialists in plastics and we relish the challenge. At the Heart Since our formation in 1986 we have established a series of polymer databases for Europe and Asia which chart the supply and demand for all commodity and engineering thermoplastics. These databases also contain end use applications for each material on both a historical and future forecast basis. The databases are constantly refined and updated in the light of AMI’s whole research effort and together with our processor databases underpin much of our consulting and publishing work programmes.
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