Author Archives: Tom White

Six uses for transparent acrylic sheet

Leave a reply

Six uses for acrylic sheet by PLEXIGLAS® is just the beginning…

With its versatility, durability and sheer beauty, PLEXIGLAS® is revolutionising design and function.  PLEXIGLAS® Acrylic Sheet is being used in new and innovative ways in the architectural, commercial, signage, infrastructure and transport industries alike.

What is PLEXIGLAS® Acrylic Sheet?

PLEXIGLAS® Acrylic is impact resistant, weather resistant and has noise reducing properties.  This makes it ideal for use in a wide variety of applications.  It is available in clear, coloured, opaque, translucent in varying thicknesses. It comes as blocks, flats sheets, corrugated sheets, moulding compounds and rods.

Closely resembling glass but with more versatility, acrylic sheet is renowned for its strength and workability.  This is why it has been utilised extensively in the automotive and aviation industries for 75 years.

Today PLEXIGLAS® Acrylic applications extend well beyond functionality to architecture, interior design, manufacturing and more. 

Acrylic Sheet Applications

From the highways to the high-rise and high end retailers, acrylic sheet is being used in places you may never expect.

Domestic Applications

The domestic applications of PLEXIGLAS® are only beginning to be fully explored. From furniture to splash backs and (benchtops,) shower recesses, it’s being used to replace traditional glass, laminate and stone in a more cost effective, durable way.

Found everywhere from bathrooms to kitchens, skylights, windows, and tabletops, PLEXIGLAS® offers water resistance, weather resistance, and heat resistance, and it’s available in a series of product lines and looks.

Varieties like PLEXIGLAS® (Mineral) Hi Gloss (even take on the appearance of natural stone) for use in bathrooms (shop fittings) or kitchens, while PLEXIGLAS® LED is used to create a new dimension in lighting with specialty products for edge lighting, back lighting and side lighting when used in combination for LEDs.

The formable properties of PLEXIGLAS® also make it suitable for furniture design, feature walls, partitions, and ornate lighting fixtures, while its durability and ease of maintenance make it a great option for patio roofing, pool fences, greenhouses and skylights.

Commercial Applications for Acrylic Sheet

From the cake cabinet at the coffee shop to the point of sale kiosk at the high end retailer, PLEXIGLAS® is applied throughout the commercial realm. Its uses include machinery guards in factories, vending machine glass, walls for bus shelters, stadium barriers, aquariums and glasshouses.

(Corrugated) Sheets like PLEXIGLAS® (Alltop) Resist can be found on commercial roofing and glazing, while PLEXIGLAS® Hi-Gloss and PLEXIGLAS ® Satin Ice is used extensively for product displays, ambient lighting and shop fittings.

Able to focus, diffuse, and screen light, it is resistant to scratching, chemicals, weather and noise.

Architectural Acrylic Sheet Applications

Half the weight glass, but mouldable and more impact resistant, PLEXIGLAS® provides architects with design opportunities limited only by their imagination.

Whether used as a facade, to allow in light, or to sculpt uniquely shaped features including roofing, it can be applied to delicate structures and functional areas alike, and is approved for overhead glazing, including fall-proof and weather resistant areas. Recent spectacular uses include high-rise, rooftop pool casings where even beneath water, swimmers enjoy a room with a view.

Meanwhile specialist finishes like (PLEXIGLAS® Mineral), PLEXIGLAS® Reflections, PLEXIGLAS® Satinice, and PLEXIGLAS® Textures give architects and designers access to innovative patterns, designs and textures to create unique and functional spaces with colourfast materials that are weather, UV and scratch resistant.

Transport Uses for Acrylic Sheet

Since it was first created, PLEXIGLAS® has played a role in the transport industry. Every airline passenger has gazed through it while looking out the windows, while pilots rely on its strength in fine weather and foul via their windscreen.

Found in helicopters, planes, trains and automobiles, PLEXIGLAS® is 11 times more impact resistant than glass. 

Infrastructure Applications for Transparent Acrylic

Gone are the days when noise reduction beside high traffic areas relied on the use of concrete barricades, embankments and tree plantings. PLEXIGLAS® offers an aesthetically pleasing alternative with clear or colourful options for applications like noise barriers.

Since PLEXIGLAS® Soundstop was first developed in 1980 it has been used extensively around the world near motorways and high traffic areas including Sydney’s M5 Freeway and international airport. It’s also employed for wind reduction on structures like bridges.

Not only are clear or coloured noise reduction barriers more attractive, but they provide better safety for drivers due to greater visibility, impact resistance and shatter proofing.

Acrylic Sheet for Signage

For the signage industry, PLEXIGLAS® has opened a world of doors in terms of unique design and artistic endeavours. These days, not only can PLEXIGLAS® be used to protect printed signs, but images can even be transferred directly onto it creating boundless potential in terms of signage, lighting and art installations.

As PLEXIGLAS® comes in rods, tubes, blocks, and sheets, and is formable it allows signage to take on different shapes, while offering durability.

Get in Touch with us at Plastral 

Plastral is a premier supplier of PLEXIGLAS® in Australia and New Zealand. We have a range of solutions for all industries and can offer advice on its application. You can learn more about our PLEXIGLAS® products and services here.

When colour sounds good

Leave a reply

For a long time, the ceiling in the large hall of the German state radio station (NDR) absorbed too much sound and volume. Acoustic sales made out of PLEXIGLAS® LED remedied this situation.

LED acoustic sound panels

sound2

For a long time, the ceiling in the large hall of the German state radio station (NDR) absorbed too much sound and volume. Acoustic sales made out of PLEXIGLAS® LED remedied this situation.

Application description

Curved along their entire surfaces, these PLEXIGLAS® LED Endlighten sound panels at the Broadcasting Center in Hannover provide:

– Optimum lighting (ceiling lights)
– Brilliant colours (stage design)
– Improved hall acoustics (concerts)

The dimensions of the acoustic panels are 2900 x 1930 x 8 mm and 2240 x1930 x 8 mm.

Selection criteria


– Excellent light conductance
– Elegant, smooth surface
– Lightweight material
– Extensive processing options

Two pools become one

Leave a reply

In the Southwest of France a private double pool looks as blue as the skye due to the PLEXIGLAS® clear wall, that separates the two pools.

Twin swimming pools in France

pool2

Application description
This fairy twin-pool is located in Bompas in southern France. This private pool is designed as a relaxing area of the spa. Through the PLEXIGLAS® Block window with a thickness of 80 mm one can recognize the stairs into the water in one of the twin-pools which creates a magical visual effect. The water comes from the upper into the main pool with an overflow system. The size of the window is 2750 x 1200 mm. The pool water is heated up by sunlight.

Selection criteria
– PLEXIGLAS® Block is the best suitable material for the underwater application
– high transparent and tested quality what customers need and want

New trend colours 2016 for PLEXIGLAS® Satinice

Leave a reply

 

PLEXIGLAS® launched the new 2016 trend colours for Satinice range

For the first time Pantone® has chosen two colours as the colours of the year. In 2016 the soft colour combination of Rose Quartz and Serenity shows freshness and gives energy. PLEXIGLAS® took this softer approach on colours and offers the fluid colour combination in PLEXIGLAS® SATINICE colours Melon Red 3H04 DC and Ice Blue 5H03 DC.

In hectic times and modern day stress the welcoming colours bring balance and seek mindfulness and well-being. The soft matt satin surface of the PLEXIGLAS® SATINICE product presents calm and clear pastel colours perfect for the current fashion in 2016. The interplay of light and lighting is perfect for show cases to make customers feel good in their shopping environment. The two colours Melon Red and Ice Blue joined together reflect connection and wellness.

With the easy processing of PLEXIGLAS® SATINICE there is no limitation to your creativity.

Ask us for samples of 2016 colours of the year Melon Red and Ice Blue to see how the contrast of both colours gives energy and peace.

Simona engineering plastics used in innovative shark detection system … Clever buoy

Leave a reply

Simona and Ensinger engineering plastic products, distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Plastral, have been used for the construction of “Clever buoy”, an innovative shark detection system currently under trial in Sydney’s Bondi beach.

Source: ABC News, Original Article by Laura Gartry

29 Jan 2016

A WA-designed shark detection system, the “Clever Buoy”, will be trialled at Sydney’s Bondi beach following a spate of attacks in NSW, but the WA Government remains unconvinced by the new technology.

Key points:

  • System can detect sharks from 250-300 metres away
  • Trial to be rolled out at five NSW beaches
  • Despite being designed in WA, no plans to trial it here

The buoys’ sonar beams can detect any marine animal over two metres long, according to Perth-based developers, Shark Attack Mitigation Systems.

Current acoustic alerts used by the WA Department of Fisheries only pick up on tagged sharks and work alongside sightings and patrols.

Shark Attack Mitigation System director Craig Anderson said the Clever Buoy had undergone extensive testing in uncontrolled environments, such as Esperance and also controlled environment like the Sydney aquarium.

“Clever buoy is basically like a virtual shark net,” he said.

“It uses a combination of multi-spectrum sonar and some software that we have written and co-developed that is very much like facial recognition software for marine life.”

The four imaging sonars look for large shark-sized objects and can cover a radius of up to 80 metres. The total combined coverage for each Clever Buoy is around 250-300 metres.

The imagery is then computed into algorithms which use a range of indicators including swimming patterns to determine what type of underwater animal the sensors have detected.

If a shark is identified the Clever Buoy sends a signal to lifeguards who receive the alert on a mobile app.

The NSW Government has committed several million dollars to trial Clever Buoys at five locations, including two in Northern NSW where there has been a spate of attacks, pending a successful trial at Bondi.

The latest version of the Clever Buoy is leaving Perth on Thursday bound for the NSW trial from mid-next month.

Despite the technology originating in the state, it will not be hitting Western Australian beaches anytime soon.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said his government had concentrated on other shark mitigation strategies, including tagging and researching repellent devices to keep beachgoers safe.

“A lot of our investment now has been in aerial patrols both along Perth beaches and in the South West,” he said. “They are proving to be very effective both in identifying sharks and warning swimmers. “[We have also made a] big investment in surf lifesaving clubs in terms of their ability and equipment and also the creation of safe swimming areas.”

Department of Fisheries’ Shark Response Unit head Lisa Clack said they would not be trialling the Clever Buoy, but would be interested in the outcome of the NSW trial.

She said there had been contact between the State Government and Shark Attack Mitigation Systems, however no formal proposal has been received by the government.

In 2013 the WA Government spent $273,000 on a separate sonar research project through Curtin University which also led to a shark detection system.

The researchers are due to finalise the report for the State Government in the coming months.

But researcher Miles Parsons said it appeared there was no funding forthcoming to develop the system further for testing. “To date we haven’t had a response that suggests we will get further funding, but we still need to go through further discussions on that,” he said.

Those researchers are also looking to Sydney and private enterprise for funding.

Click here to read the original article

Marine biodegradation test for Mater-Bi biodegradable and compostable plastics

Leave a reply

Marine biodegradation test for Mater-Bi biodegradable and compostable plastics

Biodegradation tests overseen by the Italian Institute of Plastics (IIP) show that the fourth generation biodegradable plastic Mater-Bi has achieved biodegradation of over 80% in around 220 days.
The laboratory tests simulate the environmental conditions of the sea bed and the seashore, habitats where a lot of plastic waste ends up. These data confirm that compostable products also tend to biodegrade under natural conditions, such as the marine environment, over a relatively short time.
This is the first step on a path that will lead to the definition of a process of certification by the Italian Institute of Plastics.

Do you want to learn more about Mater-Bi behavior in marine environment? Please, contact us.

EastLink noise barrier project

Leave a reply

EastLink project: Plastral supplied PLEXIGLAS noise barrier to one of Melbourne’s largest urban road developments

 

Transparent noise barrier maintain natural views and aesthetics for local homeowners and off-highway commercial businesses while providing noise reduction for the community.

Easy to form and fabricate, PLEXIGLAS® Soundstop products are extremely resistant to weathering from UV exposure and retain clarity and strength for many years.The transparent material comes with a 30-year non-yellowing guarantee. All PLEXIGLAS® Soundstop noise barrier sheets can be provided with various functional surfaces for specific applications, such as Birdguard.

For bridges and overpasses, PLEXIGLAS® Soundstop GS CC noise barrier sheet incorporates polyamide filaments that hold broken sheet if impacted by a vehicle, preventing fragments from falling below.

PLEXIGLAS® Soundstop noise barrier is an acrylic product that was specially developed for use in noise control barriers. It is available in different grades to meet a variety of requirements, for example in extremely large sizes, various thickness and colours, with an integrated fragment retention system. A recent addition to the range is XT Birdguard noise barrier with integrated bird protection stripes.

Plastral supplied approximately 4000m² of 20mm thick PLEXIGLAS® GSCC Tinted noise barrier glazing panels for the EastLink project which is one of Melbourne’s largest urban road developments. The safety features of filament reinforced PLEXIGLAS® Soundstop GSCC noise barrier was a major consideration as panels were mounted on overpasses for roadways below.

Plastral is distributed throughout Australia and New Zealand exclusively by Plastral pty. ltd.  Plastral is Australia’s leading plastic supplier in the oceanic region.   With over 3000 product lines, we undeniably offer one of the regions most comprehensive ranges of products, and we are the exclusive distributor of the world’s leading brands PLEXIGLAS® Acrylic, Simona® Engineering Plastics, the world’s leading Plastic Welding Equipment brand, Leister®.

To talk with one of our sales team please contact us here.