Plastic Fabrication is the design, manufacture, or assembly of plastic products through one of a number of methods. Some manufacturers prefer plastic fabrication over working with other materials (such as metal or glass) due to the process’s advantages in certain applications.
Plastic fabrication is the process of designing, manufacturing, and assembling a product made out of plastic material or composites that contain plastic. There are numerous plastic fabrication methods known today, considering the wide variety of products made out of plastic. Each method is suitable for the fabrication of certain designs because of its unique advantages and disadvantages. Today, plastic fabrication is quite popular among manufacturers because of its two main properties, i.e., malleability and cost-effectiveness. These two properties make it versatile and durable for a wide range of products spread over various industries.
Plastic is divided into two main categories; thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics. These two categories are defined based on their capabilities of being able to mold into desired shapes under temperature and pressure conditions. The plastics that can be molded again and again are the thermoplastics. Their molecular structure allows them to be softened, melted, and reshaped time and again. On the contrary, thermosetting plastics, also known as thermosets cannot be re-molded again.
These two categories of plastic are further divided into 7 types based on molecular structure. These types are used by different industries to manufacture products with the right specification. The seven types of plastics include:
There is a wide variety of plastic fabrication methods depending on the distinctive characteristics and the resulting product. The most common plastic fabrication methods are: