Material and Process Interaction and their Effects on the Performance of Plastics Parts and the Resulting Design Limitations

Abstract

When a part is made from a plastics material, the conversion process subjects the material, in most cases, to rather severe physical conditions involving elevated temperatures, high pressures, and high shear rate flow, as well as chemical changes. These drastic processing conditions place some limitations on the design of plastics parts and on their performance. The discussion here will first cover the molding processes of injection, transfer, and compression molding and then other forming processes.