Injection Molding Materials

How to Select Injection Molding Materials

Choosing the right plastic material is one of the most critical decisions in injection molding. The material affects not only the part's performance and appearance, but also the tooling cost, cycle time, and overall production economics.

With 27+ engineering plastics available, from commodity resins like PP and ABS to high-performance polymers like LCP and PPS, selecting the optimal material requires understanding each material's properties, processing characteristics, and cost implications.

Below is a comprehensive guide covering the most commonly used injection molding materials, their key properties, typical applications, advantages, and limitations.

Common Injection Molding Materials

Explore detailed information about each plastic material we work with

ABS

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

ABS plastics provide a balanced combination of mechanical toughness, wide temperature range, good dimensional stability, chemical resistance, electrical insulating properties, and ease of fabrication.

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ABS / PC

ABS + Polycarbonate Alloy

PC + ABS plastics offer improved strengths over ABS at a lower cost than Polycarbonate. Exceptional low temperature Impact Strength. Can be modified by the addition of glass fiber, mineral fillers and flame retardant.

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LCP

Liquid Crystal Polymer

LCPs are relatively new materials with interesting properties. They have tensile strength and modulus close to aluminum. Because of the highly oriented, rod-like nature of the polymer molecules.

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PA 66 – Nylon 66

Polyamide

Nylons are semi-crystalline polymers with a good range of properties. They are widely used because they have a good cost to performance ratio. Lower numbered nylons absorb moisture and change their properties as a result.

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PBT

Polybutylene Terephthalate

PBT polyesters are semi-crystalline. They are versatile materials with a good range of properties. They have excellent electrical properties and are abrasion resistant. PBT has been extensively compounded giving a very wide range of properties.

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PC

Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is an amorphous material with excellent impact strength, clarity, and optical properties. It is very widely used and a wide variety of compounds are available. Polycarbonate has excellent mechanical properties.

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PP

Polypropylene

Polypropylene is a widely used, semi-crystalline material. It has been extensively compounded to provide a wide range of properties at a wide range of costs. In general, polypropylene is a low temperature material with excellent chemical resistance.

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PMMA / Acrylic

Polymethyl Methacrylate

PMMA is a tough, highly transparent material with excellent resistance to ultraviolet radiation and weathering. It can be colored, molded, cut, drilled, and formed. Acrylic is an economical alternative to polycarbonate when extreme strength is not necessary.

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POM / Acetal

Polyoxymethylene

Acetal polymers are semi-crystalline. They offer excellent inherent lubricity, fatigue resistance, and chemical resistance. Acetals suffer from outgassing problems at elevated temperatures, and are brittle at low temperatures.

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PS

Polystyrene Crystal

Crystal polystyrene is the cheapest thermoplastic available. It has properties to match its price. It is transparent and has good optical properties. It has very low Impact Strength.

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PVC

Polyvinylchloride

PVC is one of the oldest and most commonly used thermoplastic materials. The material is a colorless polymer of vinyl chloride. PVC can have numerous properties depending on the additives used in compounding.

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TPE

Thermoplastic Elastomer / Rubber

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are a combination of polymers (usually a plastic and a rubber) which consist of both thermoplastic and elastomeric properties resulting in a product that is extremely easy to process.

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Material Properties Comparison

Key mechanical and thermal properties at a glance

Material	Density (g/cm³)	Tensile Strength (MPa)	Flexural Modulus (MPa)	Heat Deflection (°C)	Relative Cost
ABS	1.05	40	2,300	90	Low
ABS/PC	1.12	55	2,500	110	Med
LCP	1.60	180	15,000	280	V.High
PA 66	1.14	80	2,900	100	Med
PBT	1.31	55	2,500	160	Med
PC	1.20	65	2,400	135	Med
PEI	1.27	105	3,000	210	High
PMMA	1.18	70	3,000	95	Med
POM	1.41	65	2,800	110	Med
PP	0.90	35	1,500	60	V.Low
PPS	1.35	85	4,000	260	High
PS	1.05	40	3,000	85	V.Low
PVC	1.38	50	2,500	70	Low
TPE	0.95	20	500	50	Med
TPU	1.20	35	600	60	Med

List of Materials

All 27+ plastics we commonly work with for injection molding

Injection Molding Materials Guide

How to Select Injection Molding Materials

Common Injection Molding Materials