How Are Melamine Plates Made?
What Is Melamine? Melamine is an organic compound also called urea or carbamide, that is mixed with formaldehyde to form a polymer resin. Melamine can also be mixed with other inorganic compounds to become a flame retardant, a fertilizer and a plasticizer for concrete. Melamine is known as a thermoset or thermosetting polymer. Thermosets are stable substances that can be molded into a form but in an irreversible manner. This means that once formed a thermoset stays that way unless heated to its level of decomposition where it becomes toxic. This makes melamine a poor candidate for recycling and reuse because it cannot be broken down. Designing Melamine Plates One of the most well-known plate and dinnerware makers is the Pfaltzgraff Company. This company carries not only glass and pottery but melamine plates, too. In a paper written for the September/October 2002 issue of “IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications” magazine, the tools used by the The Pfaltzgraff Company to create these sh
