ABSTRACT
The practical starting point of the resin selection process begins with a series of questions about the proposed new plastic application that should be evaluated by the resin selector. Obtaining reliable chemical resistance data for plastics and using them for material selection criteria is more complicated than a similar selection process for metals. However, heat aging can cause eventual deterioration of a polymer’s properties, or even complete failure of its structure. Obviously, these possibilities must be considered carefully in the resin selection process, and careful attention paid to the product literature available on the various resins. A number of important structural properties of plastics must be considered by designers as they pursue the resin selection process, and later as they proceed with the more definitive step of finalizing part design. Instead, simplistic definitions of various structural properties are presented so that their functions can be understood by decision makers who are not skilled in design.
