Hello people; a plastic’s melting point is essential in determining its applicability. Let’s have a look at the plastic melting temperature values.
What is the Melting point of Plastics
The chemical combination of a plastic determines its melting point. For instance, ABS has a melting point of 200°C (392°F). PVC started melting at between 160 and 210 degrees Celsius (320 and 410 degrees Fahrenheit). A plastic’s melting point is integral for determining its applications and processibility as well.
Melting Point Definition – A specific temperature range in which a polymer reveals a transition from ordered to disordered resulting from heating is called the Melting point.
Let’s discuss the melting point of all the mainstream plastic materials with a defined table. Here we go:
Plastic Melting Temperature Chart
| Materials |
Melting Point Range (℃)
|
| ABS – acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene | 190-270 |
| ABS/PC Alloy | 245-265 |
| Acetal | 180-210 |
| Acrylic | 220-250 |
| CAB – Cellulose Acetate Butyrate | 170-240 |
| HDPE – High-Density Polyethylene | 210-270 |
| LDPE – Low-Density Polyethylene | 180-240 |
| Nylon 6 or Polyamide | 230-290 |
| Nylon 6 (30% GF) | 250-290 |
| Nylon 6/6 | 270-300 |
| Nylon 6/6 (33% GF) | 280-300 |
| Nylon 11 | 220-250 |
| Nylon 12 | 190-200 |
| PEEK – Polyether ether ketone | 350-390 |
| Polycarbonate | 280-320 |
| Polyester PBT | 240-275 |
| PET (Amorphous) | 260-280 |
| PET (semi-crystalline) | 260-280 |
| Polypropylene (Homopolymer) | 200-280 |
| Polypropylene (copolymer) | 200-280 |
| Polypropylene (30% tank filled) | 240-290 |
| Polypropylene (30% GF) | 250-290 |
| Polystyrene | 170-280 |
| Polystyrene (30% GF) | 250-290 |
| PVC – Polyvinyl chloride | 160-210 |
| SAN – Styrene acrylonitrile | 200-260 |
| SAN (30% GF) | 250-270 |
| TPE – Thermoplastic Elastomer | 260-320 |
Engaging Read – 7 Types of Plastics | An Helpful Illustrated Guide
Wait for a second; that’s not it.
Bonus Content – Let’s also look at the mold temperatures of all the plastic materials. Here we go.
Mold temperature of Plastics
| Materials |
Mold Temprature Range (℃)
|
| ABS – acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene | 40-80 |
| ABS/PC Alloy | 40-80 |
| Acetal | 50-120 |
| Acrylic | 50-180 |
| CAB – Cellulose Acetate Butyrate | 40-50 |
| HDPE – High-Density Polyethylene | 20-60 |
| LDPE – LowDensity Polyethylene | 20-60 |
| Nylon 6 or Polyamide | 40-90 |
| Nylon 6 (30% GF) | 50-90 |
| Nylon 6/6 | 40-90 |
| Nylon 6/6 (33% GF) | 40-90 |
| Nylon 11 | 40-110 |
| Nylon 12 | 40-110 |
| PEEK – Polyether ether ketone | 120-160 |
| Polycarbonate | 85-120 |
| Polyester PBT | 60-90 |
| PET (Amorphous) | 20-30 |
| PET (semi-crystalline) | 20-30 |
| Polypropylene (Homopolymer) | 30-80 |
| Polypropylene (copolymer) | 30-80 |
| Polypropylene (30% tank filled) | 30-50 |
| Polypropylene (30% GF) | 40-80 |
| Polystyrene | 30-60 |
| Polystyrene (30% GF) | 40-80 |
| PVC – Polyvinyl chloride | 20-60 |
| SAN – Styrene acrylonitrile | 50-85 |
| SAN (30% GF) | 50-70 |
| TPE – Thermoplastic Elastomer | 40-70 |
Notice – Mentioned information about plastic melting point and mold temperatures is legit but should be n as a reference. For optimal results with production, the best thing would be to consult with your material supplier.
Interesting Read – Plastic Abbreviations and Their Salient Features | The Ultimate Guide
The Importance of Melt and Mold Temperature
Knowing the right plastic melting and mold temperature is more important than we realize; however, most people don’t take it seriously and downgrade its importance as some random numbers on the screen. It’s not that straightforward; in injection molding, these molding conditions significantly influence the final properties like appearance, strength, and aesthetics.
There needs to be a clear distinction between process conditions and setpoints exercised to have control over them. Melt temperature is the real temperature of the material as it exits the nozzle and enters the mold.
The barrel setpoints showcase the tools we utilize to get the desired melt temperature, which means they’re not the same thing. The mechanical work done toward the material, the residence time, and screw and barrel condition also play an important role in establishing the actual melt temperature.
Talking about mold temperature, people assume that this doesn’t have much of an impact on final product integrity, but they’re wrong. It’s less obvious but has an acute effect on final properties.
Amorphous materials like polycarbonate and ABS have higher model temperatures producing lower levels of molded in-stress and greater impact strength, fatigue performance, and stress-crack resistance.
For semi-crystalline materials, mold temperature becomes crucial for understanding the degree of crystallinity in the polymer. This, in turn, is important for many performance attributes, such as fatigue resistance, wear resistance, creep resistance, and dimensional stability at higher temperatures.
Suggested Read –
- How is Plastic made? A Simple and Detailed Explanation.
- What is a Plastic Mold? | Parts of Plastic Mold | Applications of Plastic Mold
- What is Compressive Strength of Plastics | The Complete Guide
- What is a Parting Line? | Parting Line in Injection Molding | Importance of Parting Line
- What is Injection Molding Wastage? | Remedies to Reduce Plastic Waste
- What is SLA Printing? | The Finest Guide
- What is FDM Printing? | The Ultimate Guide
- Top 5 Heat Resistant Plastic Materials | A List of High Temp Plastic Materials
The Conclusion
This post is aimed to understand the importance of determining the plastic melting point and its significant role in polymer processing.
Kindly share your reviews in the comment box.
Have a wonderful day.
I want to heat and apply pressure to waste plastics (polymers) of different melting points and manufacture building materials, such as foundation blocks, sidewalks, and retaining walls in lieu of concrete. Can all common waste plastics be utilized in this manner including bags?
Hey Mike, thanks for the question. I believe all common plastic waste products like bags, bottles, containers, hangers, disposable cups, etc are good for civil applications. Additionally, I think PET material is mostly used in all those products. So, PET material should be the best option for you.
Hello Sagar Habib,
I am trying to make a prototype product using what I presume is one of the four listed below. The bottle tops of washing up liquid is what I am using. I have tried glue but this does not provede stability. I was thinking of maybe heat welding the parts I have together. What temperature is best for softening my material and hopefully create a bonded joint.
Thanks in advance
Have a good day
Geoffrey Cadman
Polypropylene (Homopolymer) 30-80
Polypropylene (copolymer) 30-80
Polypropylene (30% tank filled) 30-50
Polypropylene (30% GF) 40-80
Good to see a guide on plastic melting point. Sharing all the information in one table is a very good idea.
Hi Sagar Habib,
Would you please give me some ideas about the mixing of calcium carbonate with polymer, how come they could be mixed at a same temperature even though they have different melting temperatures.
What about directly compressing a mix of plastics. Then under high Newton forces compressing the mix to minimal spaces, heat the steel mold so that just the outer plastic against walls melts.
90% volume compressed plastic/s is stabilized within a hard shell.
Test how hot and long for each brick.
Perhaps the energy for pressure of raw material may be less efficient than with a chopped mix with less energy to chop into granular first.
The design came to me as a method to use less energy vs melting for extrusion.
Rule out structurally weak.
Sounds interesting. polycarbonate might work with your method.
Thank you for some very useful information. I want to simply recycle some plastics into ‘boards’ to replace wood on park benches 2.5″x1.25″x 4ft max length. Max load 300 lbs. Is hdpe my best choice? Plan on shredding and extruding with a self made unit. What feed rate should i try for? Should i preheat the mold? Hold at temp after molding? How long? What melt temp should i be at at the breaker plate? Should the heat in the melt tube be linearly increased or logarithmicly? What size should the feed material be?
May i know, what is your reference book for this values?