CRYLON® in laser test

Laser cutting of CRYLON® acrylic glass (PMMA)

3A Composites is one of the biggest manufacturers of plastic sheets made of PMMA. CRYLON^® is an important brand of the company. The glass-like acrylic is used, for example, in the advertising industry. CRYLON^® convinces with its high resistance as a material and at the same time very high transparency. The extruded acrylic sheets have great optical properties and are very attractive, also in their color rendering. The plastic is available in different transparent, opal and opaque variants as well as selected colors and surface structures. The high quality surfaces are weather and aging resistant. CRYLON^® sheets offer solutions for a wide variety of indoor and outdoor applications.

eurolaser has taken a closer look at CRYLON^®. The material was tested in our in-house application center with regard to its properties during laser processing.

Benefits of cutting Altuglas PMMA with CO₂ lasers:

Brilliant, smooth cut edges especially on the inner contours
Laser cutting is also possible without clamping or fixing
No acrylic chips - less cleaning effort due to less dirt
Radius-free laser cutting of the inner contours with thick acrylic

No tool wear
Consistently high cutting quality
Cutting and engraving are possible in one operation

Properties of CRYLON®:

Transparency with a brilliant look
Free of toxic substances or heavy metals
Easy recycling possible
Easy processing

Can be used in contact with food
Very good weather resistance
Translucent
UV-resistant

Area of application of CRYLON^®:

Due to its unique material properties, CRYLON^® finds numerous areas of application in industry. It is used, for example for construction elements and is the basis for skylights, partition walls, the glazing of doors and gates or light diffusion panels. In the advertising industry, POS / POP displays are made from CRYLON^®, but the material is also suitable for lettering, cladding or signs. Last but not least, mechanical engineering components such as housing and machine covers and numerous other applications such as containers or solariums (special UV-permeable variants required) are available for special areas of application. New creative areas of application for CRYLON^® regularly emerge, so that the material can continue to be used in many industries.

Sustainable solution for a wide range of applications

CRYLON^®re is an extruded acrylic sheet made from at least 95% recycled PMMA sheet waste. Despite the high recycled content, CRYLON^®re offers the same outstanding features as classically produced extruded acrylic glass. These include brilliant clarity with very good optical properties, excellent colour rendering and very good resistance to weathering and ageing. Processability is also excellent. This makes CRYLON^®re the sustainable solution for numerous indoor and outdoor applications. For example, the sheets are ideal for high-quality POS/POP displays, exhibition stand construction or shop counters and display cases.

CRYLON^®re is available in various thicknesses and in the colour variants opaque white (RWO 004), black (R910) and colourless (R000). All available variants of CRYLON^®re have been successfully certified by eurolaser for laser cutting with a CO²-laser.

Extruded acrylic sheets with increased abrasion resistance

CRYLON^_® HC is an extruded acrylic sheet with an abrasion-resistant coating on one and both sides in brilliant transparency that is especially suitable for flat applications. Thanks to the special coating, the sheets are less sensitive to scratches and more resistant to many chemicals and solvents.

CRYLON^_® HC is used, for example, in furniture construction (e.g. in kitchens), in shop and exhibition stand construction and for a wide variety of glazing - wherever increased abrasion resistance and chemical resistance are required.

In terms of processing, CRYLON^® HC can be used in much the same way as CRYLON^® in the standard version. Due to the surface coating, CRYLON^® HC is not suitable for hot bending, hot forming or outdoor use.

However, processing with a CO₂ laser is possible and provides good results.

eurolaser processing test

The PMMA material was tested in different variants and thicknesses in the eurolaser application centre. The processing tests have shown that CRYLON^® can be perfectly cut and engraved with our CO2 laser systems. CRYLON^® was cut with the same parameters known to us for acrylic processing, so hardly any adjustments in the process are necessary. Even white Crylon^® can be processed without any residue by eurolaser.

More information on laser processing of PMMA.

A detailed report on the CRYLON^® laser cutting test is available on request.