Polymer Testing

Reliable and meaningful methods of polymer testing are necessary to support the plastics industry, being essential for understanding material and part properties, and evaluating materials for a part design, with important implications for product safety as well as operating conditions and lifetime. This book covers all the most important testing methods, from long-established basic techniques to recent developments, including the latest polymer testing standards. By means of examples for the optimization of materials as well as for the evaluation of part properties, an insight into modern polymer testing and its interdisciplinary character is provided. Included in this third edition is an all-new chapter on the testing of polymer films; additionally, many small updates and corrections have been made throughout the book. Numerous tables and figures are included, providing structures and physico-chemical data. A special section for beginners is dedicated to guiding formulations and test methods. A relatively short section deals with development trends in Europe. Sustainability is a major theme, and it is demonstrated that PVC has a strong potential to develop into a fully sustainable material. Another section deals with the everyday problems in the processing of PVC, such as the formation of specks, photo-effects, and plate-out. Plate-out is a common problem in the processing of PVC but only relatively few publications cover it. The causes, influencing factors, and mechanisms are still poorly understood. This section, unique in the literature, provides assistance in the selection and dosage of raw materials to PVC processor, based on the influencing factors during processing.