Plastic assemblies can fail for a host of reasons: environmental stress cracking, poor part design, molding issues, and problems with additives or fillers. Many of these issues are difficult or even impossible to detect until the product fails in the field.

For example, without a small amount of carbon black, high-density polyethylene can degrade when exposed to ultraviolet light. Then again, a design engineer may specify a low-melt-flow material only to have the molder use a higher melt-flow grade. Molding ripples generated during filling can also be a source of stress concentrations that can lead to crack initiation.

You can learn how to avoid problems like these during ASSEMBLY magazine’s free webinar, “Designing Plastic Parts for Maximum Durability.” Sponsored by InterTech Development Co. (Skokie, IL), the webinar will be presented Wednesday, July 30, by Witold Brostow, Ph.D., professor of materials science and engineering at the University of North Texas (Denton, TX).

In this webcast, engineers will learn how plastics behave and how to design their assemblies for strength and durability. Dr. Brostow will discuss why plastic assemblies fail and provide tips on how to prevent mechanical failure under various conditions, such as temperature and vibration.

Director of the university’s Laboratory of Advanced Polymers and Optimized Materials, Dr. Brostow is the editor of the textbook Performance of Plastics (Hanser Gardner, 2000) and the co-author of the textbook Failure of Plastics (Hanser Gardner, 1986). He is president of the International Council of Materials Education, as well as president of the scientific committee of POLYCHAR-the annual World Forum on Advanced Materials.

To register for this event, click here.