Course Title

Course Title: Testing and Specifications of Plastic Materials

8 Professional Development Hours/0.8 CEUs

Course Description: The Testing and Specifications of Plastic Materials course describes many different methods that may be used to analyze polymeric materials. These range from a simple test like the notched Izod, to a sophisticated analysis carried out before, during and after a year long exposure under glass. These test methods all have a common purpose, insuring that a material or a part design does not fail during the product service life. In order to avoid and eliminate potential failures it is important to have an understanding of what the different test methods measure and the types of instruments that are used in the tests. Equally important is how these tests are used in writing specifications and what variables affect the test results. This course discusses the variety of methods used to test the properties of different plastic materials, as well as the material standards and specifications that are used in establishing procedures to insure that a material will meet the application service requirements.

Overall Course Objectives:

Gain knowledge on methods for testing material properties and for characterizing materials.
Develop an understanding of the tests for mechanical, electrical, optical, impact resistance and weathering characteristics for polymers.
Recognize plastic and automotive specifications.

Course Content:

Lesson 1 - Sample Preparation and Conditioning, Materials Characterization

Objectives:

Understand the importance of sample preparation and conditioning, and the means used to produce a test specimen.

Describe tests that are used to characterize plastic materials including the following: melt index, viscosity, molecular weight, crystallinity, thermal expansion, and softening point.

List commonly used thermal analysis techniques used in characterizing material properties.

Lesson 2 - Materials Properties

Objectives:

Explain tensile and flexural testing.

Name the most common methods for testing impact resistance that can affect impact test results.

Explain how testing thermal, optical and visual, electrical, and weathering properties of plastic are measured or performed.

Lesson 3 - Plastic Specifications, Automotive Specifications

Objectives:

Understand the importance of plastic specifications, and list several elements which are common to all material specifications.

Compare ASTM & ISO automotive specifications for plastic testing methods.

Recognize the need for organizations/institutions that originate standards.

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