Cast Nylon Dictionary

Throughout our website, and when working with our team, we use a variety of plastics terminology. Here is a brief dictionary of common terms used when describing cast nylon plastics:

Thermoplastic: This is a material that softens when it’s heated and forms a solid when cooled. The key characteristic of thermoplastic is that this heating and cooling process can be repeated indefinitely without losing its properties. Depending on the plastic material, they melt between 6500 and 7250 F.

Cast Nylon: A form of thermoplastic, cast nylon is a thermoplastic resin resistant to wear, abrasion, and impact and comes in various types, including cast nylon 6 and 6/12. It is often a more cost-effective solution compared to other plastics or metals.

Stock Shape: Thermoplastics often come in pellet form for easy melting into custom shapes or stock shapes like rods (solid), tubes (hollow), or sheets of varying lengths, diameters, and thickness.

Impact Strength: A measure of the resistance to fracture the plastic has to a blow. Impact strength is measured by the amount of energy that it absorbs before fracture.

Low Coefficient of Friction: This is the ratio of friction force to normal force. A low coefficient of friction, like that of cast nylon, means it slides easily with little friction.

Hardness: This measures the resistance the cast nylon material has to indentation. Harder materials will scratch or dent softer ones.

Compressive Strength: The load where the plastic will fail. This is measured in PSI.

Tensile Strength: Also measured in PSI, tensile strength refers to the point at which the material will break when pulled from opposite ends.

Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list of characteristics and plastics terminology. It covers the most common properties attributes you’ll hear used in conjunction with Cast Nylon plastics. If you want to use cast nylon thermoplastics for your next component or project, talk to us today and we can help find the right one to withstand your exact environmental and situational conditions.