AS DT Revision

• High impact strength
• Scratch Resistant
• Lightweight
• Durable

• Tough
• Lightweight with good strength
• Transparent
• Non-flammable

• Hard/Tough
• Resistant to wear due to its low coefficient of friction

• Food-safe
• Tough/Hard
• Durable
• Easily machined

• Lightweight
• Food-safe
• Good chemical resistance
• Good impact resistance

• Good impact resistance
• Good strength and stiffness
• Lightweight

• Colourless
• Low impact strength
• Lightweight
• Rigid

• Floats
• Good sound and heat insulator
• Lightweight
• Low strength

• Low density (Lightweight)
• Low stiffness and rigidity
• Good chemical resistance

• High density
• Good stiffness
• Good chemical resistance

• Good chemical resistance
• Good resistance to weathering
• Rigid/hard/tough
• Lightweight
• Can be coloured

Moderate chemical resistance

• Expensive
• Good chemical resistance

• High strength when reinforced with fibres (GRP)
• Good chemical and wear resistance

• Rigid
• Good strength and hardness
• Scratch resistant
• Can be coloured

• Rigid
• Brittle
• Good heat and chemical resistance

• Rigid/hard
• Good strength
• Brittle
• Heat-resistant
• Good electrical insulator

• Kitchen products
• PC monitor cases
• Toys
• Safety Helmets

• Handles for cutlery
• Cupboard door knobs
• Photographic film

• Bearings/Gears
• Curtain rail fittings
• Clothes

• Light units
• Illuminated signs
• Lenses for car lights

• Food containers
• Medical equipment
• String/Rope

• Toys
• Refrigerator linings

• Packaging
• Disposable cups/plates
• Containers

• Packaging
• Disposable cups
• Sound/heat insulation

• Detergent bottles
• Toys
• Carrier bags

• Crates
• Bottles
• Buckets
• Bowels

• Pipes/gutters
• Bottles
• Window frames
• (If using un-plasticised PVC, it's also used for hose pipes)

• Fibres used to make clothes
• Blow-moulded to create bottles
• Electrical Plugs
• Video tapes

• Protective riot shields
• Safety glasses/helmets
• Hairdryer parts
• Vandal-proof street lights

• Surface coating
• Encapsulation of electronic components
• Adhesives

• Tableware
• Decorative laminates

• Casting
• Used in glass reinforced plastic (boat hulls/car body parts)

• Electrical fittings
• Adhesives

Materials that can be repeatedly reheated and remoulded

Materials that undergo a chemical change resulting in them becoming permanently rigid. Cannot be reshaped

Polymers that have good elasticity. They can be distorted under pressure but will return to their original shape when the pressure is removed.

• Fillers (increase bulk of material)
• Flame-retardants
• Anti-static agents (Reduce effects of static electricity)
• Plasticiser (Improve flow properties)
• Stabilisers (Reduce effects of UV light/reduce degradation)

Biodegradable polymer

• Packaging
• Shopping bags
• Medical products (disposable gloves)
• Slow release medication
• Disposable nappies

Liquid detergent pouches (as they dissolve when coming into contact with hot water)

• Very complex 3-D shapes can be manufactured
• High volumes can be produced with consistent quality

• Initial set-up costs are very high
• Moulds are expensive

• Once set up, blow moulding is a very rapid procedure
• Non-circular objects can be produced

• Moulds can be expensive
• It's difficult to produce re-entrant shapes (draft angles)
• Triangles are particularly challenging to produce

• One-piece mouldings can be produced
• Ideal for both rigid and flexible shapes
• A large range of sizes
• Surface textures can be applied by the mould
• Moulds tend to be cheaper than other methods

Only hollow shapes can be produced

• It's a low-cost process
• It's good for smooth shapes

• Deep moulds result in a thinning of the wall thickness where the product has been stretched
• It's limited to simple designs
• Trimming after the process is usually required

• Low cost
• Requires only simplistic moulds/dies

• Very limited in the kind of products in can manufacture
• Only continuous cross-sections possible

• Moderately complex parts can be produced
• Little waste material
• Start-up costs are relatively low

• It is necessary to manufacture a preform to mould the product around
• The process is restricted to products of low complexity

• Electrical components (Cables/fibre optics)
• Over-moulds for grips on power tools or kitchen utensils 
• Seals and hoses for automotive industry

• Thermosetting elastomer
• It is manufactured with injection moulding techniques to combine the components together. Both are forced into a heated mould at the same time where the cross-linking can take place.

• Electrical connectors
• Bottle teats for infants
• Kitchen utensils (Spatulas)
• Medical equipment

A mixture of two of more different materials. Usually to improve or attain characteristics and properties of the materials.

• Fibres of glass added to polyester resins.
• Tough/rigid
• Lightweight

• Increased stability against warping
• They have equal strength in all directions unlike natural timber

• They have a good strength to weight ratio
• Resistant to corrosion
• Good fatigue resistance
• Low thermal expansion

• Laying up/Laminating
• Create a mould then apply glass fibre matt and resin

• Body protection
• Sports equipment
• Sails for windsurfing
• Run-flat tyres that don't damage wheel rims
• Gloves for manufacturing

• High strength to weight ratio
• Low chemical conductivity
• High chemical resistance
• High toughness
• High cut-resistance
• Flame-resistant and self-extinguish

• The fibres are woven into a cloth which can then be fashioned into different products.
• When it receives a force, all horizontal and vertical fibres absorb the impact, reducing the impact.

• High strength in compression, weaker in tension
• Good stability
• Uniform structure ensuring consistent strength
• Generally free from surface defects

• Complex shapes can be formed
• Properties similar to stone but more readily available
• It can be cast on site
• It is good in compression

It is poor in tension making it necessary to reinforce the concrete over long distances

• Particle-based composites that are a mix of metal and ceramic particles.
• Example: Tungsten Carbide

• Resistant to high temperatures
• Tough and shock-resistant

• Brittle
• High melting point
• Due to its nature, can only be manufactured in one way (sintering)

• A laminate of generally 0.3mm thick aluminum sandwiching a polyethylene core.
• Lightweight, excellent rigidity and good impact resistance
• Good sound and vibration damping

• On the cutting edge of kitchen knives.
• More durable cutting edge that does not need sharpening

• Flooring
• Covers a large area whilst reducing cost
• Chipboard does not have very good aesthetics so it must be covered by something else.

• Backs of furniture (cabinets/paneling)
• Can be used for curved shapes

Generally used for tabletops and furniture.

• Flooring for sheds and workshops
• Roofing

• Knockdown furniture (Flatpack)
• Kitchen cupboards and worktops
• Flooring

• Furniture sides acting as a base for veneers
• Pattern making for castings

• Backs of cupboards
• Drawer bottoms of kitchen units

• Vehicle bodies
• Front sections of locomotives
• Sports equipment

The manufacture of sports equipment

• Nuts
• Bolts
• Washers
• Car bodies
• <0.3% carbon

• Springs
• Gardening tools
• 0.3-0.6% carbon

• Hand tools
• Scriber
• Chisels 
• Plane blades
• 0.6-1.7% carbon

• Machine parts
• Brake discs
• Engines
• 3.5% carbon

• Kitchenware
• Over head power cables
• Plane bodies
• Drinks cans

• Electrical contacts
• Jewellery
• Pipe work for central heating and water

• Jewellery
• Electronics

• Roofs
• Adjoining brickwork

• Jewellery
• Thermocouple cables

• Expensive cutlery
• Decorative items
• Processing of photographic films

• Food wrapping (foil)
• Coating for steel in food cans

• Hip replacements
• Spectacle frames

• Galvanisation
• Buckets
• Lock mechanisms/small gears
• Casings for electrical units

• Changes the melting point
• Changes the colour
• Increases strength, hardness and ductility
• Enhances resistance to corrosion
• Changes electrical/thermal properties

• Heat treatment that reverses the internal stresses associated with work hardening.
• Achieved by heating the material to a temperature where the crystals grow, making the metal softer.

• Heat treatment that changes the way the carbon within the steel affects the strength and hardness.
• Carried out by heating the metal then cooling it rapidly.
• Usually followed by tempering

• Heat treatment that follows the hardening of some steels. It removes brittleness from the metal.
• The material is heated to a given temperature then rapidly cooled.

• A method of increasing the hardness of steels that are low in carbon by adding carbon to the outer layer of the material.
• Performed by heating to around 950 degrees and placing in a carbon-rich environment.

• Processes where material is lost as waste. 
• Example: Sawing or Filing

• Processes where materials are reshaped without loss of material.
• They are: Press-forming, Forging, Casting and Sintering.

Where a stamp or clamp of some sort presses a sheet of material between two formers to create a shape.

• Inputting molten material (usually metal) into a mould or cast to form a shape. 
• The mould can be made out of a varying amount of materials depending on the melting point of the material being cast. Cast materials include; steel, wax and sand.

• Compacting a fine powder into a mould so as to create a shape.
• Used for materials that are difficult to process in any other way. Same process used for ceramics and metals.

• Applying large forces to a piece of malleable metal whilst it is still hot so that its shape is changed without damaging its grain.
• Can be done using hand tools or machines.

• A process to form glass by softening the piece then letting it fall into a mould.
• This process is used to create curved glass panels, such as car windscreens.

• Lighter
• Lower melting point which is useful for recycling
• Impervious to gases (Carbonised drinks)
• Can be squashed without breaking
• Screw tops can be used for bottles

• Glass is more rigid
• More scratch resistant
• Greater clarity
• Usually unaffected by heat in normal situations
• Can be used where heat resistance is required (Kitchenware)
• Glass gives a sense of quality to the product

• Ability to withstand high temperatures without distorting
• Strength and rigidity at high temperatures
• Resistance to wear
• Freedom from impurities that come from grains