Bill,

Although things may be different in the States I seem to recall that
interior trim parts used in the UK/Europe were not ABS. Volkswagen use Noryl
in some cars I seem to remember polycarbonate was another favourite. The
fracture toughness of ABS is not tremendously high although there are large
variations between grades. I vaguely recall that modifiers are used to
further improve toughness in many grades. ABS is generally selected where
good surface finish, mouldability and low cost are needed. Weatherability is
also a important consideration. Many domestics goods such as vacuum cleaners
have casings made of ABS because of the excellent surface finish and low
cost. 

Again with temperature I suspect that you will find a very large variation
in Tg if you look through the GE Plastics catalogue (especially as ABS is a
blend of three polymers). It's quite possible that if ABS were selected for
a car it may be a grade with a much higher Tg than the grade that the melted
box was made from. 

Anyway enough pontificating best get back to reality..

Eric Christison Msc
Mechanical Engineer
Consumer & Micro Group - Imaging Division
STMicroelectronics
33 Pinkhill
Edinburgh
EH12 7BF
UK

Tel:     +44 (0) 131 336 6165
Fax:    +44 (0) 131 336 6001


-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 5:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] ABS Plastic Melting Temperature


FYI- Note that ABS is often used in cars- e.g. the dashboard. ABS is
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. Acrylonitrile is the main ingredient in
Orlon fiber, Butadiene is component of synthetic rubber, Syrene is a
plastic, somewhat brittle in nature. The idea for using that material is
that any cracks that start just propagate until they hit a butadiene segment
in the polymer chain, then the butadiene acts like a shock absorber to stop
the crack propagation. So, if it is OK in dashboards, it should be OK in
trunks (or boots.....)

Bill Kenyon
Global Centre Consulting
3336 Birmingham Drive
Fort Collins, CO   80526
Tel: 970.207.9586     Cell: 302.377.4272

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