Materials Know How
Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials: Polyphenylene Oxide Blends
PPO was a promising new high-performance thermoplastic, but it could be made useful only by mixing it with a humble commodity resin.
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The Strain Rate Effect
The rate of loading for a plastic material is a key component of how we perceive its performance.
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Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials: Polyphenylene Oxide
Behind the scenes of the discovery of PPO.
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Why (and What) You Need to Dry
Other than polyolefins, almost every other polymer exhibits some level of polarity and therefore can absorb a certain amount of moisture from the atmosphere. Here’s a look at some of these materials, and what needs to be done to dry them.
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Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials: The Commercialization of Acrylic
We covered the invention of acrylic in our last installment. Here, we discuss its commercial development.
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Melt Flow Rate Testing–Part 1
Though often criticized, MFR is a very good gauge of the relative average molecular weight of the polymer. Since molecular weight (MW) is the driving force behind performance in polymers, it turns out to be a very useful number.
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The Effects of Temperature
The polymers we work with follow the same principles as the body: the hotter the environment becomes, the less performance we can expect.
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Understanding Strain-Rate Sensitivity In Polymers
Material behavior is fundamentally determined by the equivalence of time and temperature. But that principle tends to be lost on processors and designers. Here’s some guidance.
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Density & Molecular Weight in Polyethylene
This so-called 'commodity' material is actually quite complex, making selecting the right type a challenge.
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