Modern building and finishing materials have sufficiently good characteristics that allow the production of various complex products. This is also polypropylene sheet. It is used in many areas of human life. However, it can be used in everyday life or industry.
What is the material?
Polypropylene sheet is a synthetic building material that has excellent physical properties as well as many advantages. Therefore, the presented product is in demand both in everyday life and large-scale construction.
There are separate types of this material that have different properties. These types will be discussed later. During the production of sheets, various chemical components are added to the raw materials, which improve the physical properties of the material.
Material specifications
Sheet polypropylene has good properties that make it in demand:
1. Melting point - +165 degrees.
2. Resistance tofrost - up to 10 cycles.
3. Density - 0.92 g/cm3
4. Elasticity - 1.15 N/mm sq.
5. Thermal conductivity is 0.22W/mK.
Next, let's move on to the question of what advantages the presented product has.
Material Values
Sheet polypropylene has the following advantages:
- Wide range of colors and shades. In addition, the sheet can be matte or transparent. That is, you have the opportunity to make various decorations.
- Resistant to temperature extremes, aggressive substances, wear, frost.
- Ability to keep fit.
- High strength, while the sheet is quite flexible when cold. Naturally, in order for it to take the necessary shape better, it can be warmed up a little.
- Easy to clean and handle. Such material is very easy to cut, plan. In this case, you will not have a lot of debris or dust. You can cut the material with both a grinder and a jigsaw.
- High thermal conductivity.
- Low water permeability.
- Ecological cleanliness. Even during the recycling process, the presented material does not pollute the environment.
- Light weight.
- The material is practically non-conductive.
Sheet polypropylene (you already know its characteristics) is a really popular product that allows you to realize the most daring architectural ideas.
Application areas
Now we need to consider how widely this product is used.
1. In the food industry: for the manufacture of containers in which liquids (milk, water) or products will subsequently be packed.
2. In the chemical industry: for the production of containers in which aggressive substances (alkali, acid) can be perfectly stored.
3. In the office: covers for books, notebooks, folders, envelopes are made from it.
4. In construction: for lining pools, building foundation formwork. In addition, this material is suitable for the design of water and heat supply systems.
5. In horticulture, excellent pots and seedling boxes are made from polypropylene.
6. In addition, good mats for baths and saunas are obtained from this material.
In general, sheet polypropylene, the technical characteristics of which are described in the article, is used almost everywhere.
Product varieties
It should be noted that there are not so many types of this material. There are such types of polypropylene:
- Tight. Containers or other products for which rigidity is important are most often made from it. Often used such sheet polypropylene for swimming pools.
- Cellular. It is used as a packaging material and also in construction.
- Foamed. It is often used as an insulating material.
Let's consider the last type in more detail.
Foam Features
Today it is very common. The fact is that the product has excellent properties: it absorbs sound and vibrations well, retains heat. In addition, the material practically does not absorb moisture, despite its porous structure. It is very light, so it can be used to insulate not only one-story houses, but also high-rise buildings.
Even foamed polypropylene sheet burns very weakly. At the same time, no toxic substances are released into the air. It is very easy to work with him. It can serve for about 20 years.
The presented product is used everywhere: for insulation of the walls of the building from the outside, sandwich panels. It is hammered into the walls for better noise absorption. Since the material does not absorb water, it can be mounted in places where there is high humidity. It is also used to pack various fragile goods.
Features of material machining
Soldering polypropylene sheet is not a very difficult task. At the same time, all actions are performed quickly enough. It is very important to consider the correct machining of the product. So:
1. The tool that will be used to work must be well sharpened.
2. Only the edge of the blade should touch the surface of the sheet. In this case, the cutting will be more accurate.
3. During operation, ensure the cleanliness of the product. That is, the teeth of the grinder should be periodically freed from chips.
4. Also, care must be taken tothe instrument is cooled down. This is necessary in order not to melt the edges of the cut.
Varieties of welding products
So, there are three ways to connect elements together:
- Polyfusion welding of sheet polypropylene. It is considered the most optimal and high quality. To work, you need a special device that can heat the edges of the sheets to the required temperature. Then they are strongly pressed against each other. After cooling, the seam remains very strong. At the same time, a similar connection method can be used for any material, regardless of its thickness.
- Welding with an extruder. To carry out the work, you will need additional wire material. It should be noted that the connection with such a tool is done manually. Naturally, in this case, one cannot hope for a very high degree of strength. Most often, the extruder is used when it is necessary to connect sheets of large thickness.
- Welding with a special hot air gun. Here, too, you need a special welding rod. However, the device is not able to maintain a high air temperature constantly. This suggests that the seam may turn out to be far from very high quality. Naturally, soldering thick pieces of polypropylene in this case is out of the question. The gun just won't heat the seam well enough.
The welding process itself must be done carefully enough. Consider the quality of the rod. For example, if it is refractory, then the force of pressing the gun onseam increases. In order for gluing to occur qualitatively, it is necessary to warm up the tool and auxiliary substance well. Naturally, the temperature should be uniform.
In order to carry out soldering, the plates must be attached to each other. Clamps can be used for this. If it is difficult to do this in this way, then there is another way: sweeping with a special die designed for this procedure.
After completing the work, you should pay attention to the cleanliness of the seam. Naturally, during welding, foam appears on it, which hardens. In principle, if it is not noticeable, then the seam will not have to be processed. However, you can clean it up. To do this, use a sharp knife, which cut off the excess. Please note that this should be done carefully so as not to violate the integrity of the surface of the plate.
That's all the features of sheet polypropylene. Now you know how to handle it and what properties it has.
