Print this page Plastics Fundamentals: Properties and Causes of Failures
Semih Genculu, PE
Course Outline
This 4-hour online course is prepared for engineers and users of plastic parts to help them understand the basic types of polymeric materials, the critical failure mechanisms and their causes. It includes information on their structure and areas of application. Despite advances in plastic manufacturing and continuous attempts to make durable, long-lasting parts, the materials can still experience failure. When a part or product fails, the consequences can be severe and result in property damage or injury. Therefore, it is especially important to identify common types of failure and their underlying causes. By increasing understanding of plastic’s strengths and weaknesses, designers, manufacturers and users may avoid future problems through appropriate use and application of the material.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.
Learning Objective
At the conclusion of this course, the student will:
- Become familiar with the main groups of polymeric materials;
- Understand the influence of various factors on their properties;
- Gain knowledge about the structure of polymeric materials;
- Have information about the factors that need to be considered in material selection;
- Understand the influence of various types of additives, the manufacturing processes and the service environment on the performance of plastic parts;
- Be able to recognize some of the basic characteristics and most common polymer types;
- Become familiar with the most common failure modes of plastics;
- Learn about the leading factors contributing to failure of plastics;
- Become knowledgeable in the testing methods and procedures that can be used to determine the mechanical properties of polymeric materials;
- Learn the tecniques used to determine thermomechanical properties of polymers along with their significance;
- Gain knowledge about the various fracture surface characteristics and interpreting fracture features; and
- Become knowledgable about the methodology of investigating the causes of failures through various case studies.
Intended Audience
This course is mainly intended for materials, chemical and mechanical engineers, however all disciplines can benefit from it.
Benefit for Attendee
Attendees of this course will not only become knowledgeable about the factors to consider for selecting the appropriate type of polymer for the application, but also become familiar with the most common failure mechanisms that the plastic parts experience during manufacturing or service, and the available analytical tools and techniques utilized in investigating the cause of the failures.
Course Introduction
Various types of metalllic components are being replaced by parts made from plastics and these materials are expected to withstand heavy use over long periods. In reality they are afffected by environmental and other factors over time and can degrade, causing major problems. This course contains background information on various types of polymers, deals with the factors contributing to failures of plastic parts, and provides guidelines on how to investigate and diagnose such failures. Polymers are rather complicated and inappropriate material selection or processing could result in catastrophic failures if consideration is not given to factors such as service environment, temperature, and types of loading.Course Content
The course content is contained in the following PDF file:
Plastics Fundamentals: Properties and Causes of Failures
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
Strength, operating temperature, environmental cracking and u.v. resistance, types of loading are the main factors to be considered in selecting the right polymer for the application. Knowing which critical characteristics to consider, taking proper precautions during manufacturing and processing, and learning from mistakes by conducting proper root cause investigation of failures are key to eliminating or reducing the susceptibility to premature failures of the parts in service.
Related Links and References
Handbook of Plastics Testing Technology and Failure Analysis, Vishu Shah
Polymeric Materials, Gottfried W. Ehrenstein
Plastics Failure Guide, Myer Ezrin
ASM Engineered Materials Handbook, Volume 2: Engineered Plastics
Society of Plastics Engineerswww.4spe.com
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards
General Design Principles for Engineering Polymers, DuPont Design Guide
Modern Plastics Encyclopedia, McGraw-Hill
www.PerkinElmer.com
www.matweb.com
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
