ABS plastic is primarily a blend or terpolymer of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. It is a tough and rigid thermoplastic. Properties vary depending on ratio of three components. Morphologically, ABS is a non-crystalline material. Polymerization of three monomers produces a two-phase terpolymer: a continuous styrene-acrylonitrile phase and a dispersed polybutadiene rubber phase. Properties of ABS mainly depend on ratio of three monomers and molecular structure of two phases. This allows for great flexibility in product design, resulting in hundreds of different qualities of ABS material on the market. These different qualities offer different properties, such as medium to high impact resistance, low to high gloss, and high-temperature torsion resistance. ABS material has excellent processability, appearance characteristics, low creep, excellent dimensional stability, and high impact strength.

1. General Properties
ABS appears as opaque, ivory-colored granules. Products made from it can be produced in various colors and have a high gloss. ABS has a relative density of approximately 1.05 and low water absorption. It bonds well with other materials and is easy to print, coat, and plate. ABS has an oxygen index of 18-20, making it a flammable polymer. It is waterproof, burns slowly, and produces a softened yellow flame with black smoke and a distinctive odor. However, it does not drip and can be processed using injection molding, extrusion, and vacuum molding methods.
2. Mechanical Properties
ABS has excellent mechanical properties, with excellent impact strength, allowing it to be used at extremely low temperatures. It also has excellent wear resistance, good dimensional stability, and oil resistance, making it suitable for bearings under moderate loads and speeds. ABS has higher creep resistance than PSF and PC, but lower than PA and POM. Its flexural and compressive strengths are among the lowest of plastics. Mechanical properties of ABS are significantly affected by temperature.
3. Thermal Properties
Heat distortion temperature of ABS is 93-118℃, which can be increased by approximately 10℃ after annealing. ABS retains some toughness even at -40℃ and can be used in a temperature range of -40 to 100℃.
4. Electrical Properties
ABS has good electrical insulation properties and is almost unaffected by temperature, humidity, and frequency, making it suitable for most environments.
5. Environmental Performance
ABS is unaffected by water, inorganic salts, alkalis, and many acids, but it is soluble in ketones, aldehydes, and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Stress cracking can occur when exposed to glacial acetic acid and vegetable oils. ABS has poor weather resistance and is prone to degradation under ultraviolet light; its impact strength decreases by half after six months outdoors.
6. Processing Properties of ABS Plastic
Like PS, ABS is a thermoplastic with excellent processing properties and can be processed using common methods.
ABS has better melt flowability than PVC and PC, but worse than PE, PA, and PS, similar to POM and HIPS. ABS is a non-Newtonian fluid (its viscosity coefficient cannot remain constant with changing shear rates). Its melt viscosity is related to both processing temperature and shear rate, but is more sensitive to shear rate.
ABS has good thermal stability and is not prone to degradation. ABS has a high water absorption rate and should be dried before processing. General drying conditions are 80-85℃ for 2-4 hours; for products with special requirements (such as electroplating), drying conditions are 70-80℃ for 18-18 hours. ABS products are prone to internal stress during processing. Magnitude of internal stress can be tested by immersion in glacial acetic acid. If stress is too high and stress cracking is absolutely prohibited, annealing treatment should be performed. Specifically, place product in a hot air circulating drying oven at 70-80℃ for 2-4 hours, then cool to room temperature.

 

ABS can be classified according to impact strength into: ultra-high impact, high impact, and medium impact types.
ABS can also be classified according to molding and processing techniques into: injection molding, extrusion, calendering, vacuum molding, and blow molding types.
Based on applications and performance characteristics, ABS can be further classified into: general-purpose, heat-resistant, electroplating, flame-retardant, transparent, antistatic, extruded sheet, pipe, structural foam, and modified ABS types.

The largest application areas for ABS resin are automotive, electronics, and building materials. In automotive sector, it is used in many components such as dashboards, exterior body panels, interior trim panels, steering wheels, sound insulation panels, door locks, bumpers, and ventilation ducts. In electronics sector, it is widely used in refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, air conditioners, computers, and copiers. In building materials sector, ABS pipes, ABS sanitary ware, and ABS decorative panels are widely used in building materials industry. In addition, ABS is also widely used in packaging, furniture, sporting and recreational products, machinery and instrumentation industries. General-purpose grade ABS is used to manufacture gears, bearings, handles, machine housings and parts, various instruments, computer, radio, television, telephone housings, and toys; flame-retardant grade ABS is used to manufacture electronic components, such as computer terminals, machine housings, and various household appliances; structural foam grade ABS is used to manufacture covers for electronic devices; heat-resistant grade ABS is used to manufacture housings for automated instruments and motors in power units; electroplating grade ABS is used to manufacture automotive parts, various knobs, nameplates, decorations, and daily necessities; transparent grade ABS is used to manufacture dials, food trays in refrigerators, etc.

 

ABS material has following advantages: Good flowability; Excellent impact resistance; Easy to process and mold; Easy to color and paint; Low odor; Good corrosion resistance; Matte finish.
Disadvantages: Poor solvent resistance; Low dielectric strength; Low elongation.
Injection molding process conditions: Drying treatment: ABS material is hygroscopic and requires drying treatment before processing. Recommended drying conditions: Dry at 80-90℃ for at least 2 hours. Material temperature should be kept below 0.1%.
Melting temperature: 210-280℃; Recommended temperature: 245℃.
Mold temperature: 25…70℃. (Mold temperature will affect surface finish of molded part; lower temperatures result in lower surface finish).
Injection pressure: 500-1000 bar.
Injection speed: Medium to high speed.

 

ABS is a general-purpose thermoplastic engineering plastic developed in the 1940s. It is a plastic variety with excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, possessing not only good rigidity, hardness, and processing fluidity, but also high toughness. It can be injection molded, extruded, or thermoformed. Most automotive parts are processed using injection molding. Advantages of ABS resin are impact resistance, sound insulation, scratch resistance, better heat resistance, and a more aesthetically pleasing appearance than PP, especially in parts with strict lateral impact resistance and operating temperature requirements. ABS resin is the third most used resin in automobiles, after polyurethane and polypropylene. ABS resin can be used for interior and exterior vehicle shells, small parts such as steering wheels, fuel lines, handles, and buttons, exterior components including front radiator grilles and headlight covers.
ABS resin is easy to process, exhibiting good dimensional stability and surface gloss. It is easy to paint and color, and can undergo secondary processing such as metal spraying, electroplating, welding, and bonding. It has wide applications in electronics and electrical appliance industry, including various office and consumer electronics/appliances, such as electronic data processors and office equipment. In recent years, ABS resin has maintained its position in electronics / appliances market where flame retardancy and high heat resistance are required. Flame-retardant and high-heat-resistant properties of ABS resin give it a significant advantage over engineering plastic alloys such as ABS/PC.
ABS resin also has wide applications in daily consumer goods, such as building materials, pipes, sheets, or plates, although in recent years it has been partially replaced by the more affordable PVC resin. ABS resin is used in construction-related fields. Extruded sheets are used in sanitary ware such as bathtubs and swimming pool liners. Injection-molded pipes and fittings are also produced, with a small quantity of extruded telephone cable conduits.
AIE Asia Pacific International keeps abreast of material market trends and is committed to development and promotion of ABS materials. It has launched a series of ABS automotive materials with excellent comprehensive performance and technical characteristics, and developed many new ABS composite materials, such as those with high impact resistance, flame retardancy, improved appearance, and colorability. It provides end-users with comprehensive support and assistance and continuously offers new solutions.
ABS+PC, a copolymer and blend of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, is a thermoplastic plastic alloy made of polycarbonate and polyacrylonitrile (ABS). It combines excellent properties of both materials: moldability of ABS and mechanical properties, impact strength, temperature resistance, and UV resistance of PC. It can be widely used in automotive interior parts, office equipment, communication equipment, home appliances, and lighting equipment.
Typical applications: mobile phone casings, computer and business machine casings, electrical equipment, lawn and garden machinery, automotive dashboards, interior trim, and wheel covers.
Injection molding process conditions: Drying treatment: Pre-processing drying is essential. Humidity should be less than 0.04%, recommended drying conditions are 90~110℃, 2~4 hours. Melting temperature: 230~300℃. Mold temperature: 50~100℃. Injection pressure: Depends on part. Injection speed: As high as possible.
Chemical and physical properties: PC/ABS combines properties of both PC and ABS. For example, ABS has easy processing characteristics, while PC has excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability. Ratio of the two will affect thermal stability of PC/ABS material. This PC/ABS blend also exhibits excellent flow characteristics. Shrinkage is around 0.5%.

 

PC/ABS is a modified engineering plastic synthesized through compounding. PC is polycarbonate, and ABS is a copolymer of acrylonitrile (A), butadiene (B), and styrene (S). This modified plastic offers superior performance compared to pure PC and ABS, for example, improved impact resistance, heat resistance, and hardness.
ABS plastic characteristics: 1. Good overall performance, high impact strength, chemical stability, and good electrical properties.
2. Good weldability with 372 acrylic glass, allowing for production of two-color plastic parts, and surface chrome plating and painting.
3. Available in high-impact, high-heat-resistant, flame-retardant, reinforced, and transparent grades.
4. Slightly less fluid than HIPS, but better than PMMA and PC, with good flexibility.