Drawing No. EH–MT–001 // Engineering Materials
ABS Properties
Reviewed September 2026
A representative engineering ABS grade is used to illustrate the polymer family. ABS is tough and easily processed, but its properties are temperature-, rate- and grade-sensitive.
Representative properties
Switch units without changing the underlying material reference.
What changes these properties?
Engineering variability
- Grade, butadiene content and additives affect impact strength and stiffness. The selected Ensinger TECARAN grade does not publish Poisson ratio, thermal conductivity or specific heat on the referenced page, so those cells are intentionally not populated.
- Amorphous ABS does not have a sharp crystalline melting point; glass-transition and Vicat softening temperatures are more meaningful.
- Mechanical properties decline rapidly as temperature approaches the glass-transition region.
- UV exposure and long-term thermal aging can change performance.
Selection note
Common for housings, fixtures, prototypes and impact-resistant molded parts. It is not normally selected for high-temperature or highly loaded long-term structural duty.
Do not combine strength from one grade/condition with modulus, thermal data or temperature limits from another without checking compatibility. Where the overview shows a range, it is intended to expose variability—not establish allowable bounds.
ABS in practice
The default opaque engineering thermoplastic for injection-moulded housings — chosen for toughness, finish and processability rather than for any peak property.
Where it is specified
Appliance and equipment housings, automotive interior trim, electrical enclosures, toys (Lego is ABS), pipe and fittings for drain-waste-vent, luggage, and the majority of hobbyist 3D printing filament after PLA.
It is a blend, not a simple polymer: rubbery polybutadiene particles dispersed in a styrene-acrylonitrile matrix. The rubber phase arrests crazes and gives the impact strength; acrylonitrile supplies chemical resistance and heat resistance; styrene supplies rigidity, gloss and easy flow. Grade selection is largely about shifting that balance.
Chosen over what
Against polypropylene: ABS is stiffer, dimensionally more stable, takes a far better surface finish and can be electroplated or solvent bonded. PP is cheaper, has better chemical and fatigue resistance, and survives living hinges, which ABS cannot.
Against polycarbonate: ABS is roughly half the price and easier to mould, but much less impact resistant and with a lower service temperature. PC/ABS blends exist precisely to buy part of PC's toughness at closer to ABS cost.
Against PLA in 3D printing: ABS tolerates heat and mechanical abuse far better but needs an enclosed, heated chamber to control warping, and emits styrene during printing.
How it fails
UV degradation is the characteristic weakness. The polybutadiene phase oxidises under sunlight; the surface yellows, chalks and embrittles, and impact strength collapses even though the part still looks intact. Unstabilised ABS is unsuitable outdoors, and UV-stabilised or ASA grades (which replace butadiene with acrylate rubber) exist for that duty.
Environmental stress cracking under load in contact with solvents, oils, some cleaning agents and certain adhesives — often appearing near moulded-in stress concentrations weeks after assembly.
Moisture-related moulding defects. ABS is hygroscopic and must be dried before processing, typically 80 °C for 2–4 hours, or moisture flashes to steam and produces splay marks and weak weld lines.
Creep under sustained load. Like all thermoplastics, ABS deforms continuously under constant stress; snap fits and threaded inserts must be designed for the relaxed condition.
Fabrication notes
Injection moulding is straightforward: melt around 220–260 °C, mould 50–80 °C, shrinkage a low and predictable 0.4–0.7%, which is part of why it is favoured for dimensionally critical housings.
Solvent bonding with MEK or acetone-based cements gives joints approaching parent strength — an advantage very few engineering plastics share.
Electroplating: ABS is the standard plateable plastic. The butadiene phase is chemically etched away to leave a keyed surface, which is why chrome-look plastic trim is almost always ABS.
Machining is easy with sharp tools and adequate chip clearance, but local heating melts and re-welds the swarf, so feeds must keep the cut moving.
Specifications and standards
ISO 2580 and ASTM D4673 for ABS moulding and extrusion materials; ISO 527 tensile, ISO 179/180 Charpy and Izod impact, ISO 75 heat deflection temperature; ASTM D1788; UL 94 for flammability rating; ASTM D2661 and EN 1455 for ABS DWV pipe.
References
Campus and UL Prospector datasheet databases for grade-specific data; Osswald and Menges, Materials Science of Polymers for Engineers; ASM Engineered Materials Handbook Vol. 2, Engineering Plastics.
Property interpretation
Stiffness vs strength
Young’s modulus controls elastic deformation. Yield or fracture strength controls how far the material can be stressed. These are separate material characteristics.
Thermal response
Thermal conductivity controls temperature gradients, specific heat contributes to thermal inertia, and expansion controls thermally induced strain when movement is restrained.
Temperature transition
The final property card is deliberately labeled “melting / transition.” Metals often have a solidus–liquidus range; amorphous polymers and glass use softening or glass-transition concepts; concrete and wood decompose instead of exhibiting one clean melt point.
Technical sources
Source hierarchy favors manufacturers, industry associations, standards bodies and government engineering references. Strength data must still be reconciled with the exact procurement specification.