Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

  • Congratulations waross on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Recommend a good book for choosing and testing plastic. 3

Status
Not open for further replies.

Erica1

Mechanical
Nov 8, 2007
8
SE
Hello.
I am interested in buying a book for choosing a plastic.
And I am also interested in a book for testing the final plastic product and I have good contact with my former school so I can use their equipment.
Thanks
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

That's not an easy one. The best book I know of generally about plastics is:

Plastics Materials 7th edition by John Brydson
Butterworth Heinemann
ISBN 0-7506-4132-0

There's a lot of great information on plastics that you won't find elsewhere. You'll find it at Amazon etc.

The best places for free information on polymer properties to select a grade are:


There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.
- James Branch Cabell
 
Many raw materials suppliers also provide extensive data on properties, design considerations and material selection.

If you can find an burnt out old has been like me, they might let you peruse their data collected in the 60's and 70's which was published by the technical departments before the marketing gurus took control of publications and withdrew data and substituted pretty pictures.

Bayer, LNP, DSM, ICI, DuPont, Elf Atochem, BASF, Hoechst and GE are a few who put out really good data. Of course it was aimed at promoting the use of their materials, so it emphasises good properties and downplays bad properties to varying degrees, depending on the ethics of the company.

Regards

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
 
Thank you for the tip on Plastics Materials 7th edition by John Brydson. I read about the book at Amazon and I think it contains a lot of things I am interested in.
 
You are very welcome. That book was recommended to me years ago as the one book you just have to have. It certainly is useful. Had been updated about every 6-7 years and now it's 7th Edition so obviously someone is buying them.

There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.
- James Branch Cabell
 
I can also recommend Brydson - he was head of department at London Polytechnic when my wife did her polymer engineering there some years ago. Apparently a better writer than tutor...nevertheless, the definitive book.

One of the other tutors was a guy called John Goff - he has turned into a processing guru and has written some good stuff on the processing side - useful to a designer to prevent specifying a material with, eg. a narrow processing window or tricky drying requirements when something easier to process will do.

Here is a rough and ready web-based material selector:


Cheers


Harry
 
Hi Pud,

I checked that link you posted and it's excellent. Certainly worth a pink star. One coming your way.


There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.
- James Branch Cabell
 
Thanks Pud

Just went on my list of favourites and all Acrobat files will be printed.



Regards

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
 


Demon/Pat, cheers for he stars but I did post this link some time ago (I forget the thread though!)

Probably the easiest way to select materials is to get local representative(s) to come and visit - discuss the product and they will contact their material suppliers' white coat brigade and do all the calcs etc for you!! (Especially if they think their material is going into a box on the drawing!!) I have found that "engineering" material suppliers the best - I guess because their profit margins are better!!

A study by an independent UK research organisation some years ago indicated that over 90% of plastic mouldings are over specified. Some of the "nicest" mouldings I have seen over the past years are from the automotive sector - clever use of coring/ribbing, material choice, etc, etc.

Pat, correct about old stuff - used to have an excellent design guide from Hoescht - lent it to a designer and never saw it again! (Can't remember who either!).


Cheers


Harry

 
I still have my old ICI, Akzo, LNP, Wilson Fibrefill, Bayer, Mitsui and Polyplatics stuff. It is irreplacable. I only lend copies.

My role for many years was the local white coat guy in Aus, liaising with various head office white coat guys.

In Aus due to small domestic market and isolation, we tend to wear a lot of different coats.

Regards

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
 
Demon,thank you. but where and how can I buy this book, I am in China.

Plastics Materials 7th edition by John Brydson
Butterworth Heinemann
ISBN 0-7506-4132-0

Regards
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor

Back
Top