Download - Evonik Industries

At an exhibition in Darmstadt, the gallery owner opted for
PLeXIGLAS® Optical HC picture glazing to allow visitors
to view the pictures without color distortion (above).
For an exhibition of American historical documents that was
toured through the country, the U.S. national Archive
chose PLeXIGLAS® display cases because they offer protection
and are highly transparent and lightweight (below)
art lovers access to unique treasures almost all over the world.
Light, yet break-resistant packaging is needed to transport them.
Conventional float glass is heavy and breaks easily. Acrylic has
a break resistance that is higher by a factor of eleven, and is only
half as heavy. This offers key advantages for transport, and also
in the presentation of large and heavy exhibits.
PLEXIGLAS® Optical HC can be produced in thicknesses
of 1.5 to 16 millimeters, with variants individually adapted to
customers’ wishes: Panels, for example, may be transparent or
colored, and surfaces matted or antiglare. The material is
desIGnInG WItH PoLYMeRs
produced under clean-room conditions at a new combined
extrusion and coating line at the Weiterstadt site, which came
on-stream last year. Extruded PLEXIGLAS® panels are finished
here with a specially developed coating that provides an
abrasion- and chemical-resistant surface, with process, substrate,
and coating being optimally coordinated.
Great design freedom
Lastly, the material offers customers and artists vast freedom of
design: The material can be cut, drilled, sawed, rolled, scored
and broken, laser processed, and digitally printed. This allows it
to be used for shapes and artworks that cannot be realized in
glass. Individual panels can be glued together. An adhesive
developed especially for this purpose creates by chemical reaction
a high-strength and virtually invisible bond. Moreover,
PLEXIGLAS® Optical HC can be processed like standard
PLEXIGLAS®. However, line bending and thermoforming are not
suitable for machining abrasion-resistant coated PLEXIGLAS®
Optical HC because these processes could lead to damage or detachment
of the coating. The uncoated side of the panel, like
extruded acrylic, forms a strong and reliable adhesive bond.
Its excellent mechanical and optical properties coupled with
easy processability make abrasion-resistant PLEXIGLAS®
Optical HC of interest for a wide range of applications. In addition
to the exhibiting and transporting of artworks, it is used in
electronic displays, signage, furniture making, shopfitting, and
exhibition booth construction, as well as for industrial glazing,
for example to protect high-value machines and systems, and for
sectional doors. To put it briefly, PLEXIGLAS® Optical HC promises
the optimal solution for all applications calling for the transparency
and durability of glass combined with the lightness and
break resistance of a plastic. 777
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elements39 Issue 2|2012