The quality of a plastic part depends largely on the material chosen for its production. Choosing an unsuitable thermoplastic, too fragile for the mechanical stresses, incompatible with the chemical environment or poorly tolerated by the chosen manufacturing process, means compromising the quality and performance of the part before it is even produced.
At Plastisart, material selection is an integral part of the design work. Our design office selects the most suitable thermoplastic for each project from the specifications analysis phase, simultaneously taking into account the properties required by the application, the constraints of the transformation process and the client's budget requirements.
Our approach to thermoplastic material selection
At Plastisart, the choice of a thermoplastic is never arbitrary. It results from a complete analysis of the project constraints, conducted by our in-house design office in direct contact with our production workshops. The criteria we systematically analyse are:
- Required mechanical properties: impact resistance, rigidity, flexibility, abrasion resistance
- Thermal performance: service temperature, resistance to hot/cold cycles
- Chemical resistance: solvents, oils, acids, bases, cleaning products
- Regulatory requirements: food contact, medical compatibility, fire standards
- Appearance and finishing requirements
- Material cost relative to production volumes
- Compatibility with the chosen transformation process (thermoforming, RIM injection, CNC machining, blow moulding, plastic fabrication)
This multi-criteria analysis avoids classic mistakes: specifying an overly costly material for a standard application, or under-specifying a material for stresses that the application will reveal in the field.
Compliance and material documentation
All thermoplastics we use comply with REACH and RoHS standards. For projects subject to specific regulatory requirements, we provide on request the appropriate compliance documents: material certificates 2.1 and 3.1, FDA reports, USP Class VI certificates for medical and pharmaceutical applications, safety data sheets, and batch certificates to enable complete traceability of the material used in each production run.
The thermoplastics we process at Plastisart
Our range covers all common industrial and technical thermoplastics, organised into three main families according to the performance level required.
Standard and semi-technical thermoplastics
These materials cover the vast majority of common industrial applications and offer an excellent properties/cost ratio: ABS, PMMA (plexiglass), PC (polycarbonate), HDPE, PP, rigid PVC, PETG, PS.
Technical thermoplastics
These materials are used for applications requiring mechanical, thermal or chemical performance exceeding standard grades: PA (polyamide), POM (acetal), PET, PVDF, PEI.
High-performance thermoplastics
For the most demanding applications in sectors such as medical, aerospace, defence or chemicals: PEEK, PTFE (teflon), PPS, PI, PEKK.
Plastic materials adapted to every need
Our range includes materials with varied mechanical properties (hardness, rigidity, flexibility, impact and wear resistance, solvent resistance, high-temperature resistance, chemical inertness, UV resistance, food contact compatibility), composite materials integrating optical or magnetic detection capabilities, as well as multifunctional materials with conductivity, self-lubricating properties, resistivity, compressibility, anti-slip properties, insulation or fire resistance.
Our technical team analyses your functional and technical constraints to guarantee optimal performance on every project. With Plastisart, you benefit from plastic solutions that meet your requirements in terms of functionality, performance and certified quality.
Use of multifunctional and filled materials possible
Beyond standard grades, we also work with special formulations meeting specific functional requirements:
- Carbon or glass fibre-filled materials for applications requiring rigidity and lightness
- Antistatic or conductive grades for environments sensitive to electrostatic discharge
- UL94-certified flame-retardant grades for applications subject to fire standards
- Certified food-grade materials for contact with foodstuffs
- Radio-opaque grades for medical applications requiring imaging detection
At Plastisart, the material as the foundation of quality
The quality of a plastic part begins with material selection. At Plastisart, this choice is guided by experience accumulated across thousands of projects in varied sectors, and by direct knowledge of the behaviour of each material in our transformation processes. We do not select a material from a catalogue: we choose it based on what the part will need to do, in what environment, and how it will be manufactured.
FAQ
What is a thermoplastic?
Thermoplastics are polymers that soften under heat and solidify when cooled, in a reversible way. This property is what makes them processable by the techniques we master: thermoforming, machining, RIM injection, blow moulding, folding, bending. Unlike thermosets that polymerise permanently during forming, thermoplastics can be reworked, reshaped and recycled. The thermoplastics family is very broad: it covers materials with very different properties, from flexible and economical polyolefins such as HDPE through to very high-performance technical polymers such as PEEK.
How do I choose the right thermoplastic material for my project?
Our integrated design office carries out a multi-criteria analysis from the specifications phase. We cross-reference your mechanical (impact, friction), thermal, chemical (solvent or acid exposure), regulatory (fire standards, food contact) constraints and your budget to validate the ideal polymer.
Do you provide material compliance and traceability certificates?
All our materials comply with European REACH and RoHS standards. On simple request, we provide complete documentation: material certificates 2.1 and 3.1, FDA reports, safety data sheets, batch sheets and USP Class VI certificates for the medical and pharmaceutical sector.
What is the difference between a standard, technical and high-performance plastic?
Standards (ABS, polycarbonate, PMMA, HDPE) cover the majority of common industrial needs with an excellent quality/price ratio. Technical materials (PA, POM) offer far superior mechanical and wear resistance for moving parts. High-performance materials (PEEK, PTFE) are reserved for extreme environments (defence, aerospace, chemicals) requiring biocompatibility or thermal resistance up to 260°C.
Can you process modified plastics or plastics with intelligent properties?
We master the transformation of special formulations and filled polymers. According to your functional requirements, we can use glass fibre or carbon-filled plastics, antistatic or conductive grades, radio-opaque materials for medical imaging, or composites capable of being detected by optical or magnetic sensors.
