Glossary of Terms
This glossary defines the terms that come up in secondary plastics manufacturing: laser marking and laser welding, surface pretreatment by corona, plasma, flame and UV/ozone, adhesion and bonding, coatings, inkjet printing and product security. Each entry explains what the term means in practice on a plastic part, the numbers and standards that matter (surface energy in dyne/cm, ASTM D3359 ratings, UL 94 classes) and where the full technical treatment lives on this site. The entries are written for engineers and buyers who need a working definition quickly; the linked service pages and articles cover specification, process development and troubleshooting in depth.
Screen Printing on Plastics
A squeegee forces ink through a stencil on a tensioned mesh. Mesh counts, ink systems by resin, process parameters, pretreatment,...
Read More →In-Mold Decorating (IMD) and In-Mold Labeling (IML)
IMD over-molds a pre-formed printed film; IML fuses a printed label into a packaging container. Constructions, parameters, defects and how...
Read More →Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
PVC marks well with fiber and UV lasers but releases HCl, and flexible grades bloom plasticizer that defeats inks and...
Read More →Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA, Acrylic)
PMMA is the clearest common thermoplastic and the most solvent-sensitive. Grades, properties, CO2 and fiber laser response, crazing-safe bonding, hardcoats...
Read More →Polyoxymethylene (POM, Acetal)
Acetal (POM) is stiff, slippery and chemically inert: a superb gear material and a notoriously difficult one to bond, print...
Read More →Hot Stamping (Foil Decorating)
A dry process that presses a metallized or pigmented foil onto plastic with a heated die. Foil construction, parameters by...
Read More →Ultrasonic Welding of Plastics
Ultrasonic welding melts a plastic joint by 20-40 kHz viscoelastic heating in under a second. Material suitability, parameters, joint design,...
Read More →Adhesion Promoter
An adhesion promoter is a primer or coupling agent that bridges a plastic surface and a coating, ink or adhesive....
Read More →Hydrophobic Recovery
Hydrophobic recovery is the decay of a plasma, corona or flame treatment over time. Mechanisms, kinetics, typical windows by polymer,...
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