ABSTRACT
Biocompatibility ...........................................................................................21 Biomaterials Availability .............................................................................. 22 Materials Performance ................................................................................. 23 Processablility...............................................................................................23 What Is a Polymer?...................................................................................... 24 Basics: Thermoplastic and Thermosets...................................................... 24 Cross-Linked Thermoplastics ...................................................................... 25 What Is a Medical-Grade Plastic? ............................................................... 25 Finding Plastics ............................................................................................27 Plastics for Machining ................................................................................. 30 Plastics for Processing by Machining......................................................... 31
Acrylonitrile-Butadine-Styrene (ABS).................................................... 31 Acrylic.......................................................................................................31 Polyvinylchloride (PVC).......................................................................... 32 Polycarbonate (PC).................................................................................. 32 Polypropylene (PP) ................................................................................. 33 Polyethelene (PE) .................................................................................... 33 Acetal........................................................................................................34 Nylon (Polyamide) .................................................................................. 34 Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) .................................................. 35
High-Performance Engineering Plastics for Machining ............................ 35 Ultem® Polyetherimide............................................................................ 35 PEEK™ (Polyetheretherketone).............................................................. 36
PTFE (Teflon®)......................................................................................... 36 Polysulfone and Polyphenylsulfone....................................................... 37 Polyimide Rod and Sheet (Vespel®, Kapton®) ...................................... 38 Injection Molded and Extruded Plastics ................................................ 38
Considerations ..................................................................................... 38 Commodity Plastics...................................................................................... 39
ABS ...........................................................................................................39 PC/ABS .....................................................................................................40 Acrylic.......................................................................................................40 Polycarbonate ..........................................................................................40 Polyethelene.............................................................................................41 Polyolefin .................................................................................................41 Styrene......................................................................................................41
Elastomers.....................................................................................................41 Elastomeric Plastics ................................................................................. 41
