Appliance Design - August 2008 - (Page 17)

PLASTICS Special effects pigments differ in cost, compatibility to polymers, and durability. Here, six popular special effects categories are examined. Source: The Sabreen Group tic. Seen under a microscope, the additives appear as hard particles with sharp edges. As the plastic part is stressed, the stress goes down to these sharp edges and gets concentrated at single points where the polymer experiences a multiplied stress effect. He says that the colored plastic parts are simply not going to have the same mechanical properties as the virgin polymer material and designers need to be aware of this reduction in properties. In these cases, Skabardonis says designers need to compensate for this durability loss. They can specify stronger base materials, increase the thickness of parts at certain areas, and add structural design elements such as ribs. He suggests that special effects be used on accent pieces, whether they are appliqués or parts surrounding the main component. If it is an existing part, he says that designers should thoroughly test the part to make sure that it holds up to the types of loads that it will experience. For the most part, all of these problems can be overcome, he says, if the OEM and supplier work together on the project. Whether purchasing “off-theshelf” colors or custom-blending them, this relationship is pivotal toward making products to specification. Color matching is one key to consistent product quality. www.applianceDESIGN.com Matching colors can be tricky because of a number of factors, according to Thierry Chevrier, Director, Performance Chemicals-Coatings, Plastics and Specialties, for BASF in North America, Florham Park, N.J. Chevrier says that color matching for traditional absorption colors is different than color matching for effect pigments and achieving color matches on parts made of different materials can also be a challenge. Often, little tolerance is acceptable and color matching tolerances for typical organic and inorganic colorants can be quite tight, Chevrier says. The deviation of two colors is noted as delta-e, and many applications require a delta-e of less than 1.0. Typically, a delta E of less than 1.5 is considered a match. When effect pigments are employed, the delta E should be less than 3.0 on five different detection angles. To help ensure consistency, resin and pigment suppliers have developed large databases that house tens of thousands of color combinations from which a designer can search. While these can help a designer color match correctly, until recently there wasn’t a central location for designers to go and see what and how certain resins, pigments, dyes, and additives can work together. That place is now MatchMyColor, says Gareth Morgans, business manager for matchmycolor.com. Ciba Specialty Chemicals, the Switzerland-based manufacturer of pigments and resins, developed the site. Traditionally, Morgans says that problems with color consistency often occur during product development when inaccurate information is disseminated. While millions of colors can be discerned by the human eye, words generally cannot describe those colors. At least not well enough to use in a production setting. Matchmycolor brings a common dialogue to the product design equation, Morgans says. It features a massive database that includes detailed information LLC Introducing the SN067KX The ultimate in silicon nitride igniters Full line (120) voltage; no secondary controller required (plug-n-play). Universal HVAC kits for over 150 applications (Robertshaw, W/R, Norton, SiC). Contact us today for special pricing: info@surfaceigniter.com www.surfaceigniter.com SPECIAL INTRODUCTION ON PAGE 21 applianceDESIGN August 2008 17 6/13/08 10:00:13 AM 800-321-4147 AD07084Surf2.indd 1 http://matchmycolor.com http://www.surfaceigniter.com http://www.surfaceigniter.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - August 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Plastics Switches Noise & Vibration Control Joining New Products Design Marts Association Report: CEA Advertiser’s Index

Appliance Design - August 2008

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