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Polyethylene

Poly­eth­yl­ene (PE)

Prop­er­ties

  • Ther­mo­plas­tic poly­mer con­sist­ing of long chains of the monomer ethylene
  • Semi-crystalline mate­r­ial with excel­lent chem­i­cal resistance
  • Fatigue– and wear-resistant
  • Resis­tant to organic sol­vents, degreas­ing agents and elec­trolytic attack
  • Light­weight
  • Stain-resistant
  • Low mois­ture absorp­tion rate
  • Avail­able as low-density poly­eth­yl­ene (LDPE), FDA– and USDA-compliant high-density poly­eth­yl­ene (HDPE) and FDA– and USDA-compliant ultra high-molecular-weight poly­eth­yl­ene (UHMW PE)

Com­mon uses

  • Pack­ag­ing (plas­tic shop­ping bags, bot­tles and liners)
  • Ortho­pe­dic products
  • Food pro­cess­ing
  • Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal equipment
Polyethylene sheet

Poly­eth­yl­ene sheet

Mate­r­ial Specifications

ASTM or UL test Prop­erty Value (LDPE)
Phys­i­cal
D792 Den­sity (lb/in3)/(g/cm3) 0.033 (0.92)
D570 Water absorp­tion, 24 hrs (%) <0.01
Mechan­i­cal
D638 Ten­sile strength (psi) 1,800–2,200
D638 Ten­sile mod­u­lus (psi) -
D638 Ten­sile elon­ga­tion at break (%) 600
D790 Flex­ural strength (psi) -
D790 Flex­ural mod­u­lus (psi) -
D785 Hard­ness, Shore D41-50
D256 Izod notched impact (ft-lb/in) No break
Ther­mal
D696 Coef­fi­cient of lin­ear ther­mal
expan­sion (x 10–5 in./in./°F)		 3
D648 Heat deflec­tion temp (F°) at 264 psi 120
D3418 Melt­ing temp (F°/C°) 230/110
- Max oper­at­ing temp (F°/C°) 160/71
C177 Ther­mal con­duc­tiv­ity
(BTU-in/ft²-hr-°F)		 1.13
UL94 Flam­ma­bil­ity rating NR
Elec­tri­cal
D150 Dielec­tric con­stant at 1 KHz 2.25–2.30
D150 Dis­si­pa­tion fac­tor at 1 KHz 0.0003
D149 Dielec­tric strength (V/mil) 460–700
D495 Arc resis­tance (sec) 135–160
D257 Vol­ume resis­tiv­ity (ohm/cm) at 50% RH 1015

These are typ­i­cal val­ues for ref­er­ence and com­par­i­son only. They should not be used as a basis for design spec­i­fi­ca­tions or qual­ity con­trol. Con­tact us for the man­u­fac­tur­ers’ com­plete mate­r­ial prop­erty datasheets. All val­ues were taken at 73°F (23°C) unless oth­er­wise noted.

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