Polyethylene is a lightweight, semi-crystalline thermoplastic and is available in the following major physical grades:
• Low-density polyethylene,
• Medium-density polyethylene,
• High-density polyethylene, and
• Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene.
Polyethylene is not generally regarded as a high-performance engineering plastic but it is extremely versatile and inexpensive and so is one of the most popular of all plastics.
It offers good or excellent resistance to many chemicals and can be processed by all conventional methods including rotational moulding.
Polyethylene has a low surface energy (31 mN/m) and so will generally require surface preparation prior to bonding. The two-part acrylic ‘polyolefin bonder’ showed good strengths in these trials [2] (Table 2.9).
Table 2.9 Adhesive shear strengths (polyethylene)
Notes: * Substrate failure |