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Plastics Costs

Important note ..I have provided this reference information in good faith that it is only used in initial design assessments.  Material costs for detail design must be obtained by contacting suppliers.

Introduction

This page is includes information on the costs of different plastics used in mechanical engineering.  The costs are obtained by reference to links found on the internet (links 1,2 below).   I have converted the costs to english units although the costs are based on american costs in dollars and imperial units.  The costs are really only useful in as relative indicators. Real costs depend on country of supply and market conditions.

The resin prices do not seem to relate directly to the cost of standard products e.g Tube, rod etc

Table showing relative costs of various plastic raw materials / resins

The table below can only really be used to give broad relative initial material costs.&

Material Cost. £/kg
min max
     
ABS 1,006 1,38
ABS (transparent) 1,57 2,07
Acetal (homopol) 1,63 1,89
Acetal (20% Glass Fibre) 2,01 2,77
Acrylic 1,42 -
Acrylic (Impact) 2,36 -
Nylon 66 1,76 2,11
PTFE 5,66 11,31
PFA 22,4 31,7
PVDF 8,55 11,31
PEEK (30% Glass fibre) 41,49 -
Polythene (LDPE) 1,18 1,28
Polythene (HDPE) 1,18 1,28
Polypropylene 1,06 1,29
Poystyrene 0,92 1,13
Poystyrene (Struct.Foam) 1,32 1,36
EPS 1,07 1,13
Polysulfone (30% Glass fibre) 7,0 7,07
Poyurethane (ester type) 2,33 3,21
PVC 0,77 0,91
Silicones 7,30 8,05

Real Costs

In order to try to arrive a reasonably practical costs for plastic components I have obtained the cost of a representative plastic stock (a rod 50mm dia x 0.3m long).   This stock has an approximate volume of 0,0006m3.   This size has been selected because the stockist which are conveniently accessible on the internet, generally provide costs in dollars /foot length with diameters in inches and the above size approximates to 2" dia x 1 foot long. I have calculated the volume and weight and used these results together with the raw material prices above to obtain the theoretical basic material costs.    These have been tabled below against the prices obtain from the internet (link 3 below) for rod prices.



Plastic Rod
50mm dia x 0,3m L
Density Raw Mat/Resin Solid Bar
kg/m3 £ £
ABS 1070 0,9 23
ABS (transparent) 1070 1,3 -
Acetal (homopol) 1420 1,58 13,14
Acetal (20% Glass Fibre) 1560 2,54 -
Acrylic (clear) 1140 0,95 9,14
Acrylic (Impact) 1140 1,59 -
PTFE 2270 15,13 21,71
PFA (PerFluoroAlkoxy) 2150 40,1 217,14
PVDF 1770 11,80 -
PEEK (30% Glass fibre) -    
Polythene (LDPE) 920 0,69 14,86
Polythene (HDPE) 960 0,72 5,14
Polypropylene 920 0,70 10,28
Polystyrene 1080 0,72 29,71
Poystyrene (Struct.Foam) 1100 0,88 -
Polysulfone (30% Glass fibre) 1240 5,16 -
Poyurethane (ester type) 1050 1,98 28,57
PVC 1390 0,74 19,43
Nylon 6 1400 1,74 34,29


Relevant Links
  1. Plastics Techology ... Typical Plastics Costs Dec 2005
  2. IDES ... Typical Plastics Costs Nov 2005
  3. Manufacturing Advisory Service 2.0 ...A Process/Material Selection Tool includes material costs information
  4. k-mac-plastics ...Supplier with costs of plastics sections
  5. polymerplastics ...Supplier with costs of plastics sections

This Page is being developed



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Last Updated 2/03/2006