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Polycarbonate plastics question

Building Materials

Last Post by violaine 13 years ago

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violaine

(@violaine)

Posts: 1926

Noble Member

Topic starter

Hey guys,

just want to ask...has anyone tried making use of blind rivets to fasten polycarbonate sheets onto extruded light steel frames? i will install these thermoplastics vertically and will not be used as a shade but as a concealment...i could not think of a better material durable to the environment.

can the plastic tolerate the stress while riveting?

btw..tek screws will not be used as it is not pleasing...as much as possible i want to make it look like the sheets are fastened seamlessly without screw heads..

the joints between the polycarbonates and the steel frames will be sealed by a silicone sealant.

thanks in advance.

The devil will find work for idle hands to do.-Morrissey

Posted : 30/09/2011 6:34 pm

violaine

(@violaine)

Posts: 1926

Noble Member

Topic starter

Re: Polycarbonate plastics question

anothermore...

i will be making arching shapes and i dont know if the jigsaw will fit into the job..

i have the bosch blades specifically for acrylic laminates and i dont know if i can use them too with these extruded polycarbonate sheets..

and the speed of the jigsaw..should i go max?

i need to know your opinion before i buy the sheets.

thanks...

The devil will find work for idle hands to do.-Morrissey

Posted : 30/09/2011 6:40 pm

guad

(@guad)

Posts: 646

Honorable Member

Re: Polycarbonate plastics question

(Just catching up with forum now...)

Following comments apply to 'solid' polycarbonate. If you meant twinwall or thin corrugated polycarbonate, that may be a different story.

Don't know whether riveting polycarbonate is possible or advisable, but this might help:
Google 'polycarbonate riveting' and follow link to Handbook of plastics joining, page 243-244.

My wild guess is that either the commonly available rivet will break (unable to puncture 3 mm), or the plastic will shatter when punctured, or there is not enough rivet head surface area, or combination of the above.

If you decide to experiment, I would be interested to know the result.

If using screws (with possible washer), maybe cover the screw heads with something to make less unsightly? (e.g., decorative caps as with mounting mirrors)

Sealant for polycarbonate should be 'non-acetic' or 'neutral cure', I was told. Anyone understand acetic vs. non-acetic issue and why sealant should be non-acetic?

Depending on size, it may be necessary to account for thermal expansion. For example, for the specific kind of Lexan below, the expansion coefficient is 7e-5 per degC or 0.070 mm/m-degC (supposedly about 3x that of aluminum). So a 16 ft section is expected to move about 0.3 mm per degC. We assumed a max temperature range and sized the screw holes accordingly.

Below are pictures of cut (dark edge) which disappeared from above post (fault of Imageshack). Can't remember which was the circular saw cut and the jig saw cut (T101A blade, speed whatever recommended in GST 60 PBE manual, don't remember offhand) but both were OK.

Posted : 06/10/2011 3:19 pm

ossie

(@ossie)

Posts: 1210

Noble Member

Re: Polycarbonate plastics question

hi doc,

i once tried rivetting the polycarbonate but i added washers in and out of the plastic to prevent from breakage. of course you need to try it first on scrap plastic to see if it will not shutter or break

my tool for cutting: