Polycarbonate Tube, Extruded

Extruded clear polycarbonate tube - transparent, tough enough to take a hit without shattering, and the default choice when you need to see through a tube and still trust it structurally. Polycarbonate is the toughest transparent thermoplastic in common use, with notched Izod around 12 to 18 ft-lb/in against acrylic's 0.3 to 0.5, which is the whole reason people pay more for it.

Published figures for extruded polycarbonate: tensile strength around 9,500 psi, flexural modulus about 340,000 psi, heat deflection 270F at 66 psi and 265F at 264 psi, and a service range from well below freezing up to about 240F. Light transmission runs 86 to 88 percent in thin wall. Specific gravity is 1.20, so a foot of 1 inch bore by 1-1/4 inch outside diameter weighs about a third of a pound.

Where it goes: sight glasses and level gauges, machine guards and shields, lighting diffusers and LED tube covers, display cylinders and risers, protective sleeving over shafts and cables, pneumatic and low-pressure fluid lines where the contents need to be visible, and countless one-off spacers and bushings turned from the heavier walls.

How tube is specified, because it trips people up. We list bore, outside diameter and wall thickness for every size so you can see all three at once - the trade more often quotes ID plus wall, or OD plus wall, and the two conventions get confused in both directions. Tell us which dimension is the critical one for your part and we will quote to that one.

Two honest limits. Polycarbonate is NOT chemically resistant the way acrylic buyers sometimes assume it is - it is attacked by ketones, esters, aromatic and chlorinated solvents, and by strong alkalis, and ammonia-based glass cleaners will craze it. Clean it with mild soap and water. And it yellows in sustained sunlight unless the grade carries a UV-stabilized co-extrusion, which extruded clear tube generally does not; for outdoor service ask us.

It also absorbs a little moisture, so anything being solvent-bonded, painted or hot-formed wants drying first. Machining notes: it cuts and turns cleanly with sharp carbide and plenty of chip clearance, but it is notch-sensitive and will craze or crack at a sharp internal corner, so radius your transitions and do not over-torque a clamp onto it. Anneal after heavy machining if the part has to hold tolerance.