Refers to a kind of engineering plastics can be used as engineering structure of plastic, because of its density is small, higher than strength, excellent wear resistance and low friction coefficient, high heat resistance, electrical insulation, chemical stability, acid/alkali, free coloring, easy modification, good processability and other obvious advantages, in the automotive, electronics, electrical, communications, transportation, aviation, machinery, and other fields is widely used, has become to measure a national industrial development level one of the important marks.

Modification of engineering plastics

As the performance of single resin is limited, and the requirements of low cost, high performance and performance diversification of materials are higher and higher, various engineering plastics modified varieties emerge.Engineering plastics can be realized by physical, chemical or physical and chemical methods, including blending (alloying), copolymerization (grafting) and filling enhancement.The performance of engineering plastics can be significantly improved by modification. In addition, a kind of polymer matrix can be used to produce a variety of products with different USES. The production operation is flexible and easy to be multi-purpose.

The trend of engineering plastics modification is as follows:

1. Engineering of general plastics.Thermoplastic general purpose plastics have high yield and low cost. In order to improve mechanical properties and heat resistance, it can use techniques such as enhancement, filling and alloying to achieve high performance. Engineering plastics can be replaced in certain occasions while reducing cost.PP composite materials and alloys, in particular, have become the largest amount of plastics in the automotive field due to their high cost performance.

2. High performance of general engineering plastics.The mechanical properties, heat resistance and durability of general engineering plastics have been greatly improved through copolymerization, blending alloy and composite.In addition, through modification, engineering plastics such as magnetic, electric and antibacterial functions will be endowed with an important direction of high performance in the future. In particular, with the maturity of the preparation process of high-performance carbon fiber, carbon nanotubes and graphene, engineering plastics will be more capable and multi-functional.

3. Low cost of special engineering plastics.Due to the high market price, the application of special engineering plastics is often limited to military products. However, the scale promotion of civil products can be realized only after the low cost, so as to expand the application scope and field.The ways of low cost include mixing, alloying, filling and strengthening with general plastics and engineering plastics.Second, the low-cost path of monomer source;Third, mass production.

4. Greening of raw materials, processes and products.With the enhancement of environmental protection awareness of the whole society, the engineering plastics from renewable resources and green technology are the safety products in line with the public expectation, and the demand for biodegradable and renewable products is more and more urgent.In the future, engineering plastics can not only be recycled, but also achieve greening of raw materials and processes.

Experts believe that the trend of the development of engineering plastics in the next five years will be high performance and low cost.Some high-performance engineering plastics with high temperature resistance, wear resistance, electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding will be developed rapidly.In addition, special attention will be paid to environmental protection and reuse in the design and manufacture of engineering plastics molecules.

Engineering plastics application

Engineering plastics are mainly used in automobile, electronics, electrical, machinery, transportation, construction, chemical industry, defense and military industries.According to statistics, global demand for engineering plastics has reached 20 million tons in 2015 and is expected to reach 29.1 million tons in 2020.

Applications in the automotive field

Engineering plastics, as the most important lightweight material for automobile, have been used rapidly in automobile industry.Engineering plastics, as the most important lightweight material for automobiles, have been used rapidly in the automobile industry. It can reduce the quality of components by about 40%.For each 100kg of dead weight reduction of vehicle, 0.3~0.5 liter per 100km of fuel consumption can be saved, and 8~11 grams per km of CO2 emissions can be reduced.In addition, the purpose of plastic automobile parts is to improve the function of parts, simplify the manufacturing process, improve the comfort and safety of cars, reduce production and maintenance costs, and give higher design freedom.From the perspective of applied parts, engineering plastic parts can be seen everywhere, whether they are exterior decorative parts, interior decorative parts, or functional and structural parts.With the continuous improvement of the performance of engineering plastics such as hardness, strength and toughness, plastic Windows, doors, skeletons and even all-plastic vehicles appear, and the process of automobile plasticization will be further accelerated.

Applications in electrical and electronic applications

Engineering plastics spare parts for the electrical consumption accounted for about 30% of the total engineering plastics, has been used in electronic electrical equipment and components of the shell material, coating materials, substrate materials, insulation materials, it will also continue to replace metal and thermosetting plastics, such as plastic components for the plug is from thermosetting plastics rapid transition to a thermoplastic engineering plastics.In recent years, some traditional electronic and electrical materials are gradually replaced by plastics that have the functions of conducting electricity, magnetic permeability and electromagnetic shield.In addition, the surging development of fashionable electronic products such as smart phones and smart watches has also promoted the application of engineering plastics in the field.

Application in architecture

Plastic building material has the advantage such as quality light, cheap price, have extensive application in building, basically include plastic door window, plastic conduit, plastic floor to wait.At present, China's plastic pipe market annual growth rate of 15%.In terms of doors and Windows, in addition to new buildings, the market size of existing doors and Windows renovation will exceed RMB trillion in the next decade.In terms of thermal insulation materials, it is expected that in the next 3-5 years, its application rate in the field of construction will reach 30%-40%, and possibly even 50%.Energy conservation and emission reduction provide a significant development opportunity for the plastics building material industry.The application of engineering plastics in the building materials industry is mainly based on PC board, which is used in the heating room, daylighting corridor, dome, courtyard lighting, community sign, road sign, kanban, light box, telephone booth, vending machine, switch panel, etc. The road anti-noise barrier is also made of PC board.More personalized and high - grade electrical switches, switch panels use a large number of engineering plastics to manufacture.In terms of pipe fittings, nylon will replace metal as the main connecting material with the improvement of plastic pipe utilization rate, while the insulating bar of aluminum doors and Windows will use PA66 extensively.

Application in mechanical engineering

The application of engineering plastics in mechanical engineering has been maintained at about 11-12%, mainly including gear, bearing, bearing retainer, housing, pulley, sliding block, valve, propeller or fan blade.In addition to high quality and high strength, good processability and low price, the extensive application of engineering plastics in mechanical engineering also benefits from excellent wear resistance, self-lubrication, energy absorption and noise reduction.Engineering plastics for electric tools require good flame retardancy and electrical insulation. The main varieties used include PC, enhanced PC, enhanced PA6 and PA66, and flame retardant PP and PBT, which account for about 50% of engineering plastics in the mechanical industry.

Application in 3D printing materials

Plastic 3D printing material is easier to prepare than metal.Compared with metal, plastic 3D printing material is easier to be prepared, requires less storage environment, has low printing temperature, and develops rapidly.Statistics show that the global 3D printing material market will grow by 17.9% annually in the next five years, and the type of thermoplastic material will also grow by 20% annually.The market for such thermoplastic materials as ABS, polylactic acid, nylon and polycarbonate will also increase from $64.5 million in 2013 to $192.6 million in 2019.The largest market for 3D printing materials is the automotive industry, which accounted for 26 percent in 2013.However, the growth rate of 3D printed auto terminal products is only 12.3%, lower than that of other major areas.With the successful development of PEEK and other special 3D printing materials and equipment, the output value of medical equipment and dental 3D printing engineering plastics will develop rapidly in the future and may surpass that of automobile industry.In addition, the field of aeronautics and astronautics is also an important application field of 3 d printing engineering plastic, Virginia polytechnic institute and the academy of sciences, researchers recently jointly developed a 3 d print the ultra-high strength of polyimide polymer materials (Kapton), still keep the good performance in extreme temperatures, can be used as isolation spacecraft and satellite space vehicle high polymer material, which makes aircraft such as extreme large temperature difference in the space environment is still functioning.

Development trend of engineering plastics

Engineering plastics development opportunity and challenge coexist.China's engineering plastics industry is in a stage of rapid development. The strong domestic demand provides rare opportunities for the development of China's engineering plastics industry.

(1) strengthen the development of engineering plastics synthetic resin.The industrial chain of China's engineering plastics industry has been gradually formed, including resin synthesis, composite materials and alloy processing and application, and has a certain supporting capacity.China's existing engineering plastic resin production enterprises or large chemical enterprises through the industry-university-research cooperation or the introduction of digestion and absorption methods, selective key breakthroughs in some varieties.

(2) carry out independent innovation from the whole industrial chain of material composition, structural performance relationship, product design, processing and application, and constantly launch new products, new processing techniques and new applications independently developed to participate in the competition of high-end engineering plastics market.At the same time, enterprises should also strengthen the self-discipline of the industry, increase their interests by improving quality rather than engaging in vicious competition, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of engineering plastics industry.

Mergers and acquisitions are transforming the world's engineering plastics industry.In recent years, m&a has become a trend of the world's plastics industry, which has a significant impact on the industrial pattern of world engineering plastics.Companies in the industry will focus on capacity expansion and acquisitions to tap product application opportunities, including automotive and transportation, electronics and electrical.At the same time, China has become the world's fastest growing demand for engineering plastics.Foreign companies have seized the Chinese market one after another. Multinational companies such as bayer, dairen, baoli, xuhui/dupont and DSM have entered the field of synthetic resin, built PC, POM and other production equipment, expanded PA production capacity, and formed obvious competitive advantages in the field of composite materials and high-grade products.

The materials genome project will change the business model of engineering plastics."Genetic engineering" materials are designed to find and establish material from the atomic arrangement, to the phase formation, to the formation of the microstructure and the relationship between material performance and service life, the composition - structure - property relationship of the database combined with computational materials design, so that it can greatly speed up the material research and development, reduce the cost of materials research and development, improve the rate of material design.