We use acrylic in our daily life for many things such as windows, displays and so on. you might not even know how often you see acrylic all around you. Although there are two most popular ones you may see people use, they include optical grade Casting Acrylic and engineering-grade acrylicBrands like Acrylite®, Plexiglas®, Lucite® L or Perspex do not need to be used specifically Every variation is the best in serving different objectives.
First for one of the types let's discuss optical grade acrylic.
This Acrylic by Andisco is super clear, meaning we can see straight through it. It is the perfect solution for things like lenses in glasses, cameras and even telescopes. The optical grade acrylic has a transparency that seems like there is nothing before your lens when you look through it. The incredible clarity is what enables it to be so great for precise visual applications.
Optical grade acrylic also has the same exciting characteristic that we can shape it in different forms and make it as thick or thin. This implies it is versatile in nature. Optical grade Acrylic Let take plane passenger windows, it's important that they don't fail and be really clear so you would use a special optical grade acrylic. It is also perfect for museum displays as it helps people to see clearly without any distraction what items lie inside of display.
Alright, So the second type of acrylic material is engineering grade aka ASTM-grade Acrylic
These models are intended to be hardy, and they can take some knocks or shaking without breaking. And when we mean it has a high impact resistance, this can means handle getting beat up by the elements and still stay intact. It makes engineering grade Acrylic Sheet perfect for applications in harsh environments.
Have you ever heard that the dashboard within a car is made from automotive quality acrylic?
It has to be tough because it often needs to guard what's inside of your vehicle from rocks and potholes while you're driving that. you can even easily see through engineering grade acrylic, important because this is tough stuff.
Engineering grade acrylic behaves exactly the same way as optical grade can be turned into various shapes and different thicknesses in application specific feed formulations. It is widely used in durable and robust applications such as safety shields or machine guards. And hence a great option for our protection in different conditions.
We can see very well through both types of acrylic as they are clear, but the limitations these two differ in and we must know about them. When we want something to be very clear (like a camera or telescope lens) optical grade acrylic are you best bet. While engineering grade white acrylic board is stronger and more reliable, so when we want something to ensure our safety shields or machine guards are strong let's go with the former.
As such, optical grade acrylic is best for applications where clarity takes precedence over strength; whereas engineering-grade methacrylate provides the sturdiest version and should be used in high wear scenarios. These both types of acrylic are highly functional and can be even molded in different dimensions as per our requirements. Knowing the differences between these two types helps us to select an appropriate material for any thing we make.