Tough Enough

In designing machines, structures, electronics or any other products, engineers must carefully choose their materials. There must be a good understanding as to how those materials will withstand exposure to chemicals, temperature fluctuations, and stresses due to normal use. This is especially true for designing semiconductors, which traditionally rely on silica, copper, aluminum, quartz, and epoxy. However, this article points out that thermoplastics offer an alternative to those typical material choices. Thermoplastics are strong, electrically resistive, withstand harsh chemicals, and able to handle extreme temperatures. Although plastics will lose 50% of their strength as they are heated near to their melting point, they behave mechanically predictably right up until their melting point. While some plastics are susceptible to damage from strong chemicals, they can be manufactured with a strong chemical resistance if necessary. Plastics are naturally good insulators, which is a negative point for using them in semiconductor design. However, it is possible to place additives in the plastic to help designers target a specific range of resistivity.   Read the full article at Machine Design.

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