After price and delivery time, the most frequently asked question about a product is 'How long will it last?' Lifetime expectancy is often many years, the service conditions may be complex, and there is a scarcity of definitive data on durability. The situation is complicated by the fact that there are a vast number of degradation agents, service conditions, properties of importance and different plastics. There are many inherent difficulties in designing durability tests. In many cases, the time scale involved is such that accelerated test conditions are essential. Whilst large amounts of durability data are generated by accelerated methods, much of it is only useful for quality control purposes and relatively little has been validated as being realistically capable of representing service. Most assessments of the lifetime of plastics are made by considering some measure of performance, such as impact strength, and specifying some lower limit for the property, which is taken as the end point. Lifetime is not necessarily measured in time. For example, for some products it will be thought of as the number of cycles of use. The object of this publication is to provide practical guidance on assessing the useful service life of plastics. It describes test procedures and extrapolation techniques together with the inherent limitations and problems. The Guide aims to make available the wealth of information that can be applied to help maximise the effectiveness of a durability-testing programme. This guide seeks to be comprehensive but concentrates on the most common environmental effects causing degradation. The test procedures used are outlined and the relevant textbooks and international standards are well referenced. Examples of lifetime testing studies are cited. The Practical Guide will be useful for anyone responsible for designing, manufacturing or testing plastic components. It will also be of benefit to suppliers and users of end products, as assessment of useful lifetime is critical to the economics and safety aspects of any component. Key features Test methods outlined Accelerated testing discussed Prediction methods described Standards cited Key sources of information listed

The object of this publication is to provide practical guidance on assessing the useful service life of rubbers. It describes test procedures and extrapolation techniques together with the inherent limitations and problems. This Guide seeks to be comprehensive but concentrates on the most common environmental effects causing degradation and the most important mechanical properties of rubbers. The test procedures used are outlined and the relevant d104books and International standards are referenced.

A Practical Guide to Plastics Sustainability: Concept, Solutions, and Implementation is a groundbreaking reference work offering a broad, detailed and highly practical vision of the complex concept of sustainability in plastics. The book's aim is to present a range of potential pathways towards more sustainable plastics parts and products, enabling the reader to further integrate the idea of sustainability into their design process. It begins by introducing the context and concept of sustainability, discussing perceptions, drivers of change, key factors, and environmental issues, before presenting a detailed outline of the current situation with types of plastics, processing, and opportunities for improved sustainability. Subsequent chapters focus on the different possibilities for improved sustainability, offering a step-by-step technical approach to areas including design, properties, renewable plastics, and recycling and re-use. Each of these pillars are supported by data, examples, analysis and best practice guidance. Finally, the latest developments and future possibilities are considered. - Approaches the idea of sustainability from numerous angles, offering practical solutions to improve sustainability in the development of plastic components and products - Explains how sustainability can be applied across plastics design, materials selection, processing, and end of life, all set alongside socioeconomic factors - Considers key areas of innovation, such as eco-design, novel opportunities for recycling or re-use, bio-based polymers and new technologies

This book presents the state of the art on the weathering of polymers and plastic materials in outdoor applications, comprising natural weathering, accelerated climatic weathering, laboratory artificial accelerated weathering, and lifetime prediction methodology. It summarizes the most suitable methods of instrumental analysis to access and quantify (when possible) degradation caused by weathering, while also covering the degradation and stabilization of polymers based on environmental and artificially induced factors. Innovative polymer additives and some developments in polymeric materials designed for outdoor applications are also included, emphasizing a few selected cases. the book intends to be an important reference source for those involved in the study of the durability of polymers and plastics, production of plastics for exterior applications, chemists responsible for quality control of plastic products, and researchers and students across plastics engineering, polymer science, polymer chemistry and environmental science.

This book covers material challenges and technology innovation in coated and laminated textiles for aerostats and airships. Aerostats/airships are lighter-than-air (LTA) aircraft which are generally used in defence applications and face many harsh environmental conditions. For sustaining such conditions, there are special requirements for the material to be used in aerostats/airships which generally include a multi-layered coated/laminated textile using a textile fabric in base layer and different polymers for coating/lamination. Therefore, this book covers typical materials developed by different countries, challenges for developing material for aerostat/airship envelope and the future scope. Features: Exclusive title on materials used for LTA envelopes. Discusses material challenges such as selection of suitable fibre, polymer, additive, coating/lamination techniques, joint type and sealing techniques. Includes typical materials developed by different companies and researchers worldwide. Clearly explains technical concepts using figures, schemes and tabulated data. Includes case studies on material developed for aerostats/airships by different countries including NASA, Lockheed Martin, JAXA, ADRDE and DRDO. This book is aimed at graduate students, researchers and professionals in textiles engineering and aerospace engineering.

Adhesive bonding is often effective, efficient, and often necessary way to join mechanical structures. This important book reviews the most recent improvements in adhesive bonding and their wide-ranging potential in structural engineering.Part one reviews advances in the most commonly used groups of structural adhesives with chapters covering topics such as epoxy, polyurethane, silicone, cyanoacrylate, and acrylic adhesives. The second set of chapters covers the various types of adherends and pre-treatment methods for a range of structural materials such as metals, composites and plastics. Chapters in Part three analyse methods and techniques with topics on joint design, life prediction, fracture mechanics and testing. The final group of chapters gives useful and practical insights into the problems and solutions of adhesive bonding in a variety of hostile environments such as chemical, wet and extreme temperatures.With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, Advances in structural adhesive bonding is a standard reference for structural and chemical engineers in industry and the academic sector. - Reviews advances in the most commonly used groups of structural adhesives including epoxy, silicone and acrylic adhesives - Examines key issues in adhesive selection featuring substrate compatibility and manufacturing demands - Documents advances in bonding metals, plastics and composites recognising problems and limitations

Durability and Life Prediction in Biocomposites, Fibre-Reinforced Composites and Hybrid Composites focuses on the advanced characterization techniques used for the analysis of composite materials developed from natural fiber/biomass, synthetic fibers and a combination of these materials used as fillers and reinforcements to enhance materials performance and utilization in automotive, aerospace, construction and building components. The book presents key aspects of fracture and failure in natural/synthetic, fiber reinforced, polymer based composite materials, ranging from crack propagation, to crack growth, and from notch-size effect, to damage-tolerant design. Written by leading experts in the field, and covering composite materials developed from different natural fibers and their hybridization with synthetic fibers, the book's chapters provide cutting-edge, up-to-date research on the characterization, analysis and modelling of composite materials. - Contains contributions from leading experts in the field - Discusses recent progress on failure analysis, SHM, durability, life prediction and the modelling of damage in natural fiber-based composite materials - Covers experimental, analytical and numerical analysis - Provides detailed and comprehensive information on mechanical properties, testing methods and modelling techniques