Polypropylene Rod is considered a general purpose engineering plastic that has advantages and disadvantages and we will try to highlight both sides for you.
Polypropylene Rod Advantages
- Good Acid Resistance
- Good Chemical Resistance
- Economical
- Light Weight
- Non Stick
- Impact Resistance
Acid Resistance
Polypropylene Rod is very acid resistant and as such a lot of acid tanks including sulphuric are manufactured from Polypropylene.
Chemical Resistance
Polypropylene Rod has also got very good chemical resistance, again, a lot of chemical tanks and fittings are manufactured from Polypropylene.
Economical
Polypropylene Rod is one of our most economical plastics and as such is ideal for minimal cost or sacrificial components.
Light Weight
Polypropylene Rod is incredibly light weight, it is so light, it even floats
Polypropylene Rod has Low Adhesion
This is the characteristic of most things not sticking to Polypropylene, this can be an advantage in say a cement or concrete application where not having the product sticking to a component would be better
Impact Resistance
Polypropylene Rod is pretty good for components where impact is going to be a factor. The faces of soft face hammers are sometimes made from Polypropylene
Polypropylene Rod Disadvantages
- Machine ability
- Working Temperature
- Bonding
- Fire Resistance
Machine ability of Polypropylene Rod
Due to Polypropylene Rod’s fairly low melting point, more care is needed to prevent heat build up during machining or a poor finish could result.
Working Temperature
The maximum long term working temperature for Polypropylene Rod is 80°C which is some 20% less than Nylon or Acetal
Bonding
Polypropylene Rod is very difficult to have any great success gluing or bonding, although not impossible with specialist adhesives, we would probably recommend welding if it was feasible.
Fire Resistance
Polypropylene Rod has a fire rating of HB which means that not only will it burn, it will continue to burn when the flame is taken away and it will drip molten
Polypropylene Rod Applications
The most obvious one would be acid or chemical components or bungs or thread protectors or perhaps bundles of items that will be expected to withstand repeated impact.