Materials for FRC

[lbarger]

Originally Posted by ,4lex S.

Information about materials is actually one of the things I find is pretty easy to locate on the internet, on places like matweb.

It might be more useful to make a presentation on how to use the material properties available, and what they mean.

Alex, your points are well taken. However, I am hoping to take the information one step further than simply listing specific properties, especially with more common materials.

For example, I saw several robots this past season that used acrylic for shielding the electronics. Acrylic is brittle and can shatter on impact. Polycarbonate is much better suited for this role. Also, while both materials are clear plastic, it is relatively easy to identify the two without potentially destructive testing. The edges of cleanly cut acrylic sheets are usually bright because it is very clear optically. On the other had, the edge of a polycarbonate sheet is typically a dark purple. Furthermore, with polycarbonate, while it is great for impact loads, it does not fair well under constant loading: tighten screws too much and in a few days you will see star burst like fractures.