Unsaturated Polyester (UP)
UP is a thermoset plastic. It has the highest density among the thermoset plastics in the database. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare UP to other thermoset plastics (top) and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Mechanical Properties
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
17 GPa 2.5 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
1.0 %
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
30 MPa 4.4 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Glass Transition Temperature
60 °C 140 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
1200 J/kg-K 0.29 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
0.7 W/m-K 0.4 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
3.0 µm/m-K
Other Material Properties
Density
2.0 g/cm3 120 lb/ft3
Dielectric Constant (Relative Permittivity) At 1 Hz
6.0
Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI)
20 %
Common Calculations
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
4.7 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
43 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
4.2 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
11 points
Thermal Diffusivity
0.29 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
42 points
Followup Questions
Further Reading
Thermosets: Structure, Properties and Applications, Qipeng Guo (editor), 2012
Modern Plastics Handbook, Charles A. Harper (editor), 1999
Plastics Materials, 7th ed., J. A. Brydson, 1999