What does ACP stand for?

If you’re wondering why Dibond® is sometimes called ACP and what does ACP stand for, it’s an acronym for Aluminium Composite Panel. Dibond® is a sandwich panel consisting of three layers, with two outer layers of aluminium and a polyethylene core in the middle. It’s also sometimes known as Alupanel and Alubond. The main benefit of ACP panels is that they are resistant to weather, wind and temperature changes.

What is Dibond®?

ACP, also referred to as Dibond®, is a very versatile material with many benefits, including:

• Weather-resistant: waterproof and UV-resistant
• Lightweight and easy to handle
• Can be used for both indoor and outdoor applications
• Easy to process in a variety of ways
• Available in a range of colours and finishes
• Flat and does not bend easily so ideal for mounting

Read on to discover more about the properties and advantages of Dibond®.

Dibond® panels: structure

Alupanel sheets are manufactured with three layers, with two outer layers of 0.3mm thick aluminium and a core made of polyethylene, a type of black plastic. Thanks to the use of aluminium, this sheet material is very lightweight, but also very strong and hard-wearing.

Our range of ACP sheets

When ordering Dibond® panels, various options are available, including:

• Colour
• Finish
• Thickness
• Dimensions

Dibond® sheets are aesthetically very pleasing. They come in eight colours as standard and we also supply them in six textured finishes. Our range also includes panels with special finishes, such as silver, black and brushed aluminium. ACP sheets come in thicknesses of 2mm, 3mm, 4mm and 6mm.

Size	Available thicknesses
1000 x 2050 cm	2, 3 en 4 mm
1000 x 2500 cm	2, 3 en 4 mm
1250 x 2500 cm	2, 3 en 4 mm
1500 x 3050 cm	2, 3, 4 en 6 mm
1500 x 4050 cm	2, 3, 4 en 6 mm
2050 x 3050 cm	2, 3 en 4 mm
2050 x 4050 cm	3 en 4 mm

If you require a different size, we’ll saw the panels to size for you for free.

Dibond®: a lightweight material

Thanks to the lightness of both the aluminium outer layers and the central core of ACP sheets, these panels are relatively easy to handle even in large sizes. This means that Dibond® is one of the most popular plastic sheet materials. ACP is available in panels with thicknesses of between 2mm and 6mm, and the thinnest panel weighs just 6.6kg per square metre. You’ll find a summary of the weights per sheet thickness below.

Thickness	Weight
2 mm	6.39 lbs per m²
3 mm	8.38 lbs per m²
4 mm	10.47 lbs per m²
6 mm	14.55 lbs per m²

Alubond®: a wide range of applications

Thanks to their weather-resistant properties, Alupanel sheets are very suitable for exterior applications. This material is often used for billboards, displays and for wall cladding. Alupanel is also often used indoors and is often seen used as a wall covering, for example as a kitchen splashback.

Working with Dibond®

Dibond® sheets can be machined in the same way as metal panels. This presents no problem to the average home handyman, as long as you use the correct tools, such as good quality metal saws and HSS drills. You can process ACP sheets in a variety of ways, including cutting, sawing, bending, chamfering, welding, screwing, glueing and drilling.

Printing Dibond®

Thanks to its very flat surface and resistance to bending, Dibond® is widely used for labelling. Its surface also lends itself well to printing and can be painted in a variety of ways. Dibond® can also be screen printed, coated, lacquered and sprayed. Photos can also be very successfully printed on ACP panels.

Plasticsheetshop.co.uk: your Dibond® supplier

At Plasticsheetshop.co.uk, we supply a comprehensive range of all varieties of Alupanel and Dibond®. Place your order online and we’ll cut it to size for free. We will ship your order within 48 hours.