For production method & materials geeks, here's an article reporting on some conclusions reached during Eureka Magazine's recent "Designing in Plastics" Design Day. The subject? Designing with plastic vs. designing with metal.
"Use the design freedom that plastics can bring," said plastics consultant John Hockey. "Plastic may be more expensive than the material you are replacing, but by combining functions you can actually save money."
Case studies where intelligently-designed plastic components were able to replace aluminum ones (saving cost, weight and increasing performance) are touched on, as is the relatively new process of laser sintering, once the domain only of prototyping and a sometimes-feasible alternative to injection molding.
Light reading? No. Vibration and glass-filled PA66? Yes!
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