Thermoplastics are a type of plastic material that becomes pliable or moldable when heated and solidifies when cooled. They are known for their ability to be easily molded and shaped into a wide range of products, including parts for automotive - Passenger and Commercial Vehicles, Agriculture & Earth Moving Equipment, Lightweight Electric Vehicles, Interiors of Busses, Railway Interiors & Aircraft Interiors.

There are several reasons why thermoplastics may be a better choice than glass fiber-based parts in certain applications.

1. Cost: Thermoplastics are generally cheaper to produce than glass fiber-based parts. This is because the raw materials used to make thermoplastics, such as polymers and resins, are generally less expensive than the glass fibers and resins used to make glass fiber-based parts.

2. Weight: Thermoplastics are generally lighter in weight than glass fiber-based parts, which can be an important consideration in applications where weight is a factor, such as in the automotive industry.

3. Durability: Thermoplastics are known for their durability and resistance to impact, making them suitable for use in products that may be subjected to rough handling or high stress.

4. Recyclability: Thermoplastics are easily recyclable, which can be an important consideration in terms of sustainability. Glass fiber-based parts, on the other hand, are more difficult to recycle due to the presence of resins and other non-glass materials.

5. Ease of manufacturing: Thermoplastics can be easily molded and shaped into a wide range of products using a variety of manufacturing processes, including injection molding and blow molding. This makes them suitable for use in high volume production environments.

6. Paint-Free: Thermoforming process makes the thermoplastic paint free and you can have any colour you like pigmented in the thermoplastic sheet

Couple of down-sides of investing in conversion of part from glass-fibre to thermoplastic are

1. Initial investment in tooling: There is an initial investment for making the tool for the thermoforming process but there are options of making the tooling with artificial wood, glass fibre or aluminium based on the number of parts required. Thermoforming is a low pressure process the tooling cost is not so high specially for large sized parts. This is one of the main factors to chose the thermoforming process

2. Thermoplastic parts are not so strong as glass fibre but this is a myth - there are techniques like 2-sheet forming that can counter this drawback

What is 2-sheet forming?

2-sheet forming is made using ABS/PMMA for aesthetics on A-side & rABS B-side for re-inforcement for strength.

You can use Machinecraft’s PF1 Series thermoforming machine to produce such parts. To know more visit the PF1 Series page.