MATERIAL

Alpha has been using 100% high-quality PMMA and PC granulates material from the world’s leading premium manufacturers for the profile production, which guarantees consistency in material properties and ensure the best quality for your products. And we are highly experienced with an extensive variety of raw materials. Once you help us to understand your product application, we will support you with a material recommendation.

Alpha raw material cooperative brand as below, please contact us to obtain material properties table, and click here for more information about these brand companies.

Acrylic(PMMA / Plexiglass)

Alpha is an expert extruder of acrylic material(PMMA) primarily used for Lighting applications. This resin is a transparent thermoplastic extruded in the form of a profile and is a lightweight or shatterproof substitute for glass with excellent optical properties and good resistance to prolonged exposure to sunlight and electric light sources.

Ⅰ. Optical Performance

Transparency: Clear acrylic plastic is as transparent as the best optical glass. It has a low haze level, excellent optical clarity and free distortion.

Transmittance: 92% of the light perpendicular to the surface of acrylic parts is transmitted. The standard grade transmits some light in both the ultraviolet and infrared bands (both of which are outside the visible range of light). In applications such as museum and art gallery lighting where ultraviolet degradation is not acceptable, lenses of ultraviolet absorbing acrylic (UVA grade) will filter out most of the ultraviolet light. In applications such as lenses for long wavelength black light fixtures where ultraviolet light must be transmitted, ultraviolet transmitting acrylic (UVT grade) should be used.

Ⅱ. Light Diffusion& Refraction

Diffusion: There are various white translucent acrylic materials that diffuse light in all directions. It's easy to choose a diffusion medium for almost any application. Check our Light Diffuser.

Refraction: Acrylic profiles can be embossed into prismatic lenses, which can control the distribution of light for the most efficient illumination and to minimize glare. Check our Microprismatic lenses.

Ⅲ. Stability

Decades of practical use have proven that acrylic plastics resist the effects of sunlight and weathering. Acrylic does not turn yellow significantly under prolonged exposure to sunlight or various electric light sources, including fluorescent lamps. This inherent exposure stability makes acrylic an ideal material for lighting fixture lenses.

Ⅳ. Chemical Resistance

Acrylic plastic is immune to many detergents and cleaners, thus adding to its ease of maintenance.

Ⅴ. Mechanical Performance

Acrylic plastic is lightweight, tough, and durable. Standard grade acrylic parts are impact resistant at -20°C as well as at room temperature. The impact resistance of impact-resistant acrylic parts is up tp 8 times that of standard grade acrylic, which is suitable for lighting fixture lenses to prevent damage caused by accident or man-made breakage. Parts made with impact acrylic lose some impact resistance at low temperatures. However, it will still be impact resistant enough for lighting lenses and diffusers, and will be higher than standard grades of acrylic.

Ⅵ. Thermal Performance

Depending on the grade of acrylic, the maximum continuous use temperature varies from 80°C to 110°C. Acrylic can generally be used without difficulty when the operating temperature of the lighting fixture does not exceed 70°C.

Polycarbonate(PC)

Polycarbonate is a naturally transparent thermoplastic material known for its extremely high impact strength, high heat resistance and optical clarity. While the polymer comes in a variety of (translucent) colors, the internal transmission of this plastic material is nearly the same as glass. Alpha is a manufacturer of PC plastic parts for a variety of market applications, most notably for Lighting.

Polycarbonate is a copolymer because it is made up of several different types of monomers combined with each other. These polymers can be used to produce a variety of products and are especially useful when impact resistance and/or clarity is required (eg, bulletproof glass). The polymer is so flexible that it can often be formed at room temperature without cracking or breaking - similar to aluminum sheet metal. Although deformation under the effect of heating may be simpler, small corner bending may also occur without heating. PC also has good heat resistance and can be combined with flame retardant materials without significant material degradation.

Acrylic and Polycarbonate Comparison