im designing something out of plastic, but i need to choose a certain material that will suffice, with certain qualitys, particulary one that provides a friction close to that of wood or greater. i built my prototype out of wood and wroks great, i hope that i can find a plastic material that would be similar.what types of books can i find this in?
Many plastics could be used if they are processed to have the proper surface. The friction will be dependent on the surface finish. You can mold many plastics with a wood-like surface finish or you could machine a surface to have a wood-like surface. You should select the plastic based on the other physical properties (strength, bending modulus, etc.) that you need or want. It is difficult to recommend a plastic without knowing more about your invention. You might try Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). It is a good general use plastic that can be molded and machined. If you device is machinable (talk to a machinist), then have various surfaces made and test them until you get one that has wood-like friction.
complex situation. query with a search engine. just that might help!
I don't think you can find it in books. Some things you just have to know the material properties because of experience, and if you don't you have to do some trial and error and use some common plastics and see how they equate. It is interesting to know, one plastic is actually made from wood, celluloid, so perhaps it's properties are similar to wood.
