Protomold » Rapid Plastic Injection Molding » Protomold Resin Guide

Protomold

Rapid Injection Molding

Get a ProtoQuote®

Protomold Resin Guide

		Mechanical Properties			Moldability Characteristics
Resin Generic Name	Some brand names	Strength	Impact Resistance	High Temp. Strength	Warp and Dimen-sional Accuracy, Molded	Fills Small features	Voids in thick sections	Sink in Thick Sections	Flash	High Temp. hard on Mold & Ejectors	Relative Cost
Acetal	Delrin, Celcon	Medium	Medium	Medium-Low	Fair	Fair	Poor	Good	Good	Fair	Medium
Nylon 6/6	Zytel	Medium	High	Low	Fair	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Fair	Medium
Nylon 6/6, glass filled	Zytel	High	Medium	High	Poor	Good	Excellent	Good	Fair	Fair	Medium
Polypropylene	Maxxam, Profax	Low	High	Low	Fair	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Poor	Good	Low
High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)	Dow HDPE, Chevron HDPE	Low	High	Low	Fair	Excellent	Unknown	Poor	Poor	Good	Low
Polycarbonate	Lexan, Makrolon	Medium	High	Medium High	Good	Fair	Fair to Good	Fair	Good	Good	Medium High
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)	Lustran, Cycolac	Medium-Low	High	Low	Good	Fair	Good	Fair	Good	Good	Low
Polycarbonate / ABS Alloy	Cycoloy, Bayblend	Medium	High	Medium	Good-Excellent	Fair	Good	Fair	Good	Good	Medium
Polybutylene Terephthalate	Valox, Crastin	Medium	High	Low	Fair	Fair	Unknown	Fair	Fair	Good	Medium High
Polybutylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate, glass filled	Valox, Crastin, Rynite	High	Medium	Medium	Poor	Fair	Good	Good	Fair	Fair	Medium High
Polystyrene	Styron	Medium-Low	Low	Low	Good	Good	Unknown	Fair	Fair	Good	Low
Thermoplastic Elastomer	Isoplast, Santoprene	Low	High	Low	Poor	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Poor	Excellent	Medium-Low
Acrylic	Plexiglass, Acrylite	Medium	Low	Low	Good	Fair	Excellent	Good	Good	Good	Medium

Notes:

The resin list is not comprehensive. There are many other resins not listed.
Most resins' properties can be improved by additives including glass fiber, carbon fiber and many others.
If dimensional accuracy is critical, use a resin with a good or excellent rating in the dimensional accuracy column.
See our Resin links section for links to several comprehensive sources of information and numerical data on resins.