Engineering Thermoplastics are a subset of plastic materials that are used in applications generally requiring higher performance in the areas of heat resistance, chemical resistance, impact, fire retardancy or mechanical strength. Engineering Thermoplastics are so named as they have properties in one or more areas that exhibit higher performance than commodity materials and are suitable for applications that require engineering to design parts that perform in their intended use.
Most common Engineering Thermoplastics are:
- ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene)
- LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymers)
- PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate)
- PEEK (Polyaryletheretherketone)
- PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate)
- PA (Polyamide)
- PSU/P/PPSU (Polyarylsulfone)
- PC (Polycarbonate)
- PI (Polyimide)
- POM (Polyoxymethylene)
- PPA (Polyphthalamide)
- PPS (Polyphenylene sulfide)
- PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride)
- TPE-E (Thermoplastic polyester elastomer)
- UHMWPE (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, sometimes shortened to UH)