ABS Black Hair Cell

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is a nontransparent thermoplastic and amorphous polymer. “Thermoplastic” (as opposed to “thermoset”) refers to the way the material responds to heat.

Thermoplastics become liquid (i.e. have a “glass transition”) at a certain temperature (221 degrees Fahrenheit in the case of ABS plastic). They can be heated to their melting point, cooled, and re-heated again without significant degradation.

It is important to note that because ABS is a thermoplastic material, it can be easily recycled. This means that a common way of producing ABS plastic is from other ABS plastic (i.e. making ABS from ABS).

ABS has a strong resistance to corrosive chemicals and/or physical impacts. It is very easy to machine and has a low melting temperature making it particularly simple to use in injection molding manufacturing processes or 3D printing on an FDM machine. ABS is also relatively inexpensive .

There are countless applications for ABS. Among the most widely identifiable are keys on a computer keyboard, power-tool housing, the plastic face-guard on wall sockets (often a PC/ABS blend), and LEGO toys.