Polycarbonate products give you a great blend of useful features including high temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates in between commodity plastic materials and engineering materials.
Polycarbonate is a very durable material. Although it offers exceptional impact-resistance, it possesses lower scratch-resistance and thus a hard coating can be applied to polycarbonate eye protection as well as polycarbonate exterior motor vehicle equipment. The characteristics of polycarbonate are similar to those of common Acrylic materials, and yet polycarbonate is going to be stronger, it is usable in a wider temperature range and is a bit more expensive. This plastic polymer is highly transparent to visible light and it has better light transmission characteristics than many different types of glass.
Polycarbonate has a glass transition temperature of about 150 °C (302 °F), therefore it softens slowly above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools will have to be held at higher temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to help make strain- and almost stress free products.
Unlike most thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo dramatic deformations without breaking or cracking. As a result, it can be processed and formed cold using standard sheet metal techniques, which include forming bends with a brake. Even for sharp angle bends with a tight radius, no heating is usually necessary. This makes it useful for prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are crucial, which cannot be created from sheet metal. Be aware that PMMA/Plexiglas, that is similar in looks to polycarbonate, but it is brittle and cannot be bent at room temperature.
Polycarbonate is commonly utilized in eye protection, and also in other projectile-resistant viewing and lighting applications that would normally be thought of as requiring the use of glass, but require much greater impact-resistance. Many kinds of lenses are made of polycarbonate, including automotive headlamp lenses, lighting lenses, sunglass/eyeglass lenses, swimming and SCUBA goggles, and safety glasses for use in sporting helmets/masks and police riot gear. Windscreens in small motorized vehicles are normally manufactured from polycarbonate, such as for motorcycles, ATVs, golf carts, and small planes and helicopters.