ACRYLITE® LED Sign Grade Technical Information

TECHNICAL INFORMATION ACRYLITE LED sign grade Physical Properties ACRYLITE LED sign grade ACRYLITE LED sign grade is a continuously manufactured thermoplastic sheet product developed specifically for the sign market. It is produced utilizing innovative polymers and the same proprietary technology used when manufacturing ACRYLITE extruded sheet. ACRYLITE LED sign grade is the universal sign product which combines light weight and high optical quality with outstanding ease of fabrication and greater impact strength than standard acrylic sheet. Characteristics ACRYLITE LED sign grade is a versatile thermoplastic sheet that is rigid tough lightweight and offers ease of fabrication and machining. Cutting routing drilling forming and cementing can be performed on ACRYLITE LED sign grade. Specifically designed for the sign industry ACRYLITE LED sign grade is ideal for use in channel letters formed letters and shapes as well as back-painted signs. ACRYLITE LED sign grade offers the look of acrylic with the impact strength required for fabrication handling shipping and sign installation. Impact Strength ACRYLITE LED sign grade is a modified acrylic sheet with much higher impact strength than glass or standard acrylic sheet. Testing per ASTM D 5420. Lightweight ACRYLITE LED sign grade weighs about half as much as glass. Rigidity ACRYLITE LED sign grade is more rigid than many other plastics including polycarbonates co-polyesters and vinyls. ACRYLITE LED sign grade has greater surface hardness than polycarbonates and is less susceptible to surface marring during fabrication installation and sign usage. Weather Resistance Availability ACRYLITE LED sign grade is available in 3.0 mm 0.118 and 4.5 mm 0.177 thicknesses. Standard sheet sizes are 51 x 100 and 75 x 100. Custom sizes are available upon request. White colorless and some colors are available in 4.5 mm 0.177 thickness in sizes of 75 x 125. All sheets are protected with paper masking. ACRYLITE LED sign grade is also availa

ble on reels in 4 5 6 and 8 widths in several thicknesses. ACRYLITE LED 2051D Technical Information 0724 ACRYLITE LED sign grade offers excellent weatherability. It will withstand most outdoor conditions for many years without significant deterioration of clarity color or physical properties. Actual results will vary due to differences in exposure to sunlight moisture heat and environmental pollutants. ACRYLITE LED sign grade Physical Properties Strength and Stresses Formability Tensile strength of ACRYLITE LED sign grade is 8800 psi at room temperature ASTM D 638. Continuous loads well below 8800 psi will lead to stress crazing and eventual failure. For applications subject to continuous loadings the design should allow for a load that will not exceed 600 psi at 23 C 73 F. ACRYLITE LED sign grade will soften as the temperature is increased above 220 F. As the temperature is increased the sheet passes through a thermoelastic state to the thermoplastic state. The change is gradual rather than sharply defined. Forming temperatures range from 270 F to 350 F. Because the sheet gradually becomes thermoplastic certain procedures should be considered during thermoforming. If the sheet is to be hung in an Expansion and Contraction Like most other plastics ACRYLITE LED sign grade will expand and contract due to temperature changes. Its co-efficient of thermal expansion is about 3 times greater than that of metal and about 8 times greater than that of glass. The fabricator must be aware of this and make appropriate provisions. A 48 panel will expand and contract approximately 0.002 for each F change in temperature. In outdoor use where summer and winter conditions differ as much as 100 F a 48 sheet will expand and contract approximately 14. Heat Resistance ACRYLITE LED sign grade can be used at temperatures up to 160 F. When colorless sheet is exposed to temperature extremes as in the case of thermoforming it will take on a white translucent appearance. Once the sheet is

allowed to return to room temperature it will return to its original high light transmitting clarity. Typical outdoor temperature variations encountered in use will cause little or no visible changes in the materials appearance. Light Transmission oven it is necessary to use a continuous clamp rather than several individual clamps. This will prevent permanent deformation of the sheet between the clamps. If the sheet is heated by infrared heaters supported in a horizontal frame it may be necessary to have control of the heaters positioned over the center of the sheet. This will prevent overheating in the center of the sheet which could cause an excessive amount of sagging of the sheet. Shrinkage will occur in the machine direction when heating is performed without clamping. Shrinkage will range from 1-5 depending on the thickness and forming temperature. Expansion can be expected in the cross machine direction. This will range from 0-2 depending on the thickness and forming temperature. Cementing Common solvent cements or polymerizable cements work well for joining ACRYLITE LED sign grade to itself other acrylic sheet materials and to trim caps for channel letters. Care must be taken to provide a sheet edge that is machined properly and that contains low stress. A generous quantity of cement should be applied to ensure the surfaces being cemented are completely wetted. Avoid cement contact with polished edges. Colorless ACRYLITE LED sign grade has a light transmittance of greater than 92. Cutting Machining ACRYLITE LED sign grade has outstanding cutting and machining properties and can be cut by a variety of methods. All of the same types of machining operations that are used with standard acrylic sheet can be performed on ACRYLITE LED sign grade. Due to its proprietary formulation ACRYLITE LED sign grade provides opportunities for increased production efficiencies in cutting routing and drilling. ACRYLITE LED 2051D Technical Information 0724 page 25 ACRYLITE LE

D sign grade Physical Properties Annealing Flammability ACRYLITE LED sign grade may be annealed at 180F with the heating and cooling times dependent on the thickness of the sheet. An approximate guideline is as follows annealing time in hours equals the sheet thickness in millimeters and the cool down period in hours also equals sheet thickness in millimeters. ACRYLITE LED sign grade is a combustible thermoplastic. Precautions should be taken to protect this material from flames and high heat sources. ACRYLITE LED sign grade usually burns rapidly to completion if not extinguished. The products of combustion if sufficient air is present are carbon dioxide and water. However in many fires sufficient air is not available and toxic carbon monoxide will be formed as it will when other common combustible materials are burned. We urge good judgement in the use of this versatile material. Physical Properties Property ASTM method Typical Value 3.00 mm Thickness Mechanical Specific Gravity D 792 1.17 Tensile Strength D 638 8900 psi Elongation Yield D 638 4.8 Modulus of Elasticity tensile D 638 350000 psi Flexural Strength D 790 14000 psi Modulus of Elasticity flexural D 790 330000 psi Rockwell Hardness D 785 70 M scale Impact Strength Izod milled notch D 256 0.63 lbsin of notch Gardner Impact B D 5420 20 in-lbs Instrumented Dart D 3763 4.6 ft. lbs total energy Refractive Index D 542 1.49 Gloss 20 D 523 125 Light Transmission D 1003 90 Forming temperature - 270-350 F 135-175 C Deflection Temperature Under Load 264 psi D 648 199 F 93 C Vicat Softening point D 1525 223 F 106 C Maximum Recommended Service Temperature - 160 F 71 C Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion D 626 .00004 inin F D 570 0.3 Optical Thermal Water Absorption 24 hours at 73F ACRYLITE LED 2051D Technical Information 0724 page 35 ACRYLITE LED sign grade Physical Properties Chemical Resistance ACRYLITE LED sign grade Chemical resistance was determined at a test temperature of 68 F 20 C and a relative humidi

ty of 50. Care should be taken when using this table as chemical resistance is very dependent on temperature and the materials moisture content. KEY Resistant In practice chemical resistance is dependent not only on internal and external stresses but also to a large extent on the method of fabrication. We recommend that appropriate testing be carried out in doubtful cases and technical advice be requested from POLYVANTIS Sanford LLC by calling 207-324-6000. x Limited Resistance - Non-resistant Chemical Resistance Drinks and Edible Liquids Pure-oil paints - Carbolic Acid - Benzene Hexane Beer wine fruit juice x Hydrogen peroxide up to 40 - Butanol x Isopropyl alcohol Coffee tea Gases - Tincture of iodine 5 - Carbon disulfide - Lactic acid butyl acetate x Ammonia Inorganic Substances - Chlorinated - Methyl ethyl ketone Cooking oil Wax polish hydrocarbons x Liqueurs see ethyl alcohol x Chromic acid - Chlorophenol x Methanol up to 30 Carbon dioxide Calcium hypochlorite - Cresol - Methanol over 30 Vinegar x - Hydrochloric acid x Cyclohexane - Methyl chloride Water mineral water Methane x Hydrofluoric acid up to 20 - Diacetone alcohol - Motor fuel mixture with benzene Spices Natural Gas Nitric acid up to 20 - Dibutyl phthalate x Motor fuel mixture without benzene Aniseed bay leaves nutmeg Nitrogen dioxide x Nitric acid 20 to 70 Diethylene Glycol x Paraffin - Nitrogen monoxide Phosphoric acid up to 20 - Dioxane x Perchlorethylene - Sulfuric Acid up to 30 - Ether - Phenols Greases Oils without additives Alkalis x Sulfurous Acid concentrated - Ethyl acetate - Pyridine Animal Caustic potash Sulfurous Acid up to 5 x Tricresyl phosphate Mineral Soap suds - Sulfur dioxide liquid - Ethyl alcohol up to 30 Ethyl alcohol over 30 Vegetable Soda Organic Solvents Plasticizers - Ethyl bromide - Toluene Paints Waxes Etc Whitewash - Acetone - Ethyl butyrate - Xylene Milk chocolate Cloves Pepper cinnamon onions x Bromine Chlorine Sulfur dioxide dry Triet

hyl amine x Acrylic paints Disinfectants - Amyl Acetate - Ethylene bromide General - Cellulose paints Bleaching Powder paste - Aniline x Ethylene glycol Photographic baths - Paint thinners Bleaching powder solution - Benzaldehyde up to 20 Heptane - ACRYLITE LED 2051D Technical Information 0724 Nail polish page 45 ACRYLITE LED sign grade Physical Properties POLYVANTIS Sanford LLC 1796 Main Street Sanford ME 04073 USA www.polyvantis.com www.acrylite.co Semi-finished polymethyl methacrylate PMMA products from POLYVANTIS are sold on the European Asian African and Australian continents under the registered trademark PLEXIGLAS in the Americas under the registered trademark ACRYLITE both owned by Rhm GmbH Darmstadt or its affiliates. Fire Precautions ACRYLITE sheet is a combustible thermoplastic. Precautions should be taken to protect this material from flames and high heat sources. ACRYLITE sheet usually burns rapidly to completion if not extinguished. The products of combustion if sufficient air is present are carbon dioxide and water. However in many fires sufficient air will not be available and toxic carbon monoxide will be formed as it will when other common combustible materials are burned. We urge good judgement in the use of this versatile material and recommend that building codes be followed carefully to assure it is used properly. Compatibility Like other plastic materials ACRYLITE sheet is subject to crazing cracking or discoloration if brought into contact with incompatible materials. These materials may include cleaners polishes adhesives sealants gasketing or packaging materials cutting emulsions etc. See the Tech Briefs in this series for more information or contact your ACRYLITE sheet Distributor for information on a specific product. This information and all further technical advice is based on our present knowledge and experience. Such information or advice whether given at Buyers request or not implies no liability or other legal responsibility

on our part including with regard to existing third-party intellectual property rights. In particular no warranty whether expressed or implied or guarantee of product properties in the legal sense is intended or implied. We reserve the right to make any changes according to technical progress or further developments. The customer is not released from the obligation to conduct careful inspection and testing of incoming goods. Performance of the product described herein should be verified by testing which should be carried out only by qualified experts in the sole responsibility of a customer. Reference to trade names used by other companies is neither a recommendation nor does it imply that similar products should be used. ACRYLITE LED 2051D Technical Information 0724 page 55