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

Featuring the work one of the world's foremost authorities on rubber curing, this uniquely comprehensive resource provides valuable data that will allow researchers and engineers to find solutions to their own curing problems. It delves into a variety of current evaluation practices for unvulcanized and vulcanized rubber and curing methods, i

Providing guidelines for implementing sustainable practices for traditional petroleum based plastics, biobased plastics, and recycled plastics, Sustainable Plastics and the Environment explains what sustainable plastics are, why sustainable plastics are needed, which sustainable plastics to use, and how manufacturing companies can integrate them into their manufacturing operations. A vital resource for practitioners, scientists, researchers, and students, the text includes impacts of plastics including Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and sustainability strategies related to biobased plastics and petroleum based plastics as well as end-of-life options for petroleum and biobased plastics.

Rubber is important in many engineering applications because of its unique properties. These properties must be measured with appropriate test methods developed specifically for this class of materials. This book provides, in one volume, comprehensive coverage of the procedures for measuring the whole range of the physical properties of rubber. This new edition presents an up-to-date introduction to the standard methods used for testing, quality control analysis, product evaluation, and production of design data for rubber and elastomers. Factors to be incorporated in the revision include the effects of newer instrumentation, the cutting back of laboratory staff, increased demands for formal accreditation and calibration, trend to product testing, overlap of thermoplastic elastomers with plastics and increased need for design data.

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.

Single-use technology (SUT) is now available for all processing operations within the biopharmaceutical industry. It has the potential to reduce capital costs, improve plant throughput and reduce the risk of cross-contamination. However, there are no clear guidelines to aid the end-user on implementation of these technologies into a validated, good manufacturing practice (GMP) environment. This book is the first comprehensive publication of practical considerations for each stage of the implementation process of SUT, and covers the selection, specification, design and qualification of systems to meet end-user requirements.Serving as an introduction and practical reference to this growing area of application within the biopharmaceutical industry, this handbook presents:An approach for SUT implementation within an end-users facility with examples for bioreactors, tangential-flow filtration and fill-finish systems;SUT within the context of regulatory guidance, such as ICH Q8, Q9, Q10 and GMP;Strategy for standardisation of single-use bag systems and assessment of extractables and leachables;Specifications of user requirements and design of specific SUT alongside process descriptions and flow diagrams;Strategies and tools to evaluate risk with examples of risk assessments applicable to design, processing and product quality; andQualification approach for different SUT types.With the information presented in this book, engineers, researchers and professionals involved in biopharmaceuticals will be better prepared to plan and make effective decisions to design and implement SUT.

The importance of food packaging hardly needs emphasizing since only a handful of foods are sold in an unpackaged state. With an increasing focus on sustainability and cost-effectiveness, responsible companies no longer want to over-package their food products, yet many remain unsure just where reductions can effectively be made. Food Packaging and

Plastics to Energy: Fuel, Chemicals, and Sustainability Implications covers important trends in the science and technology of polymer recovery, such as the thermo-chemical treatment of plastics, the impact of environmental degradation on mechanical recycling, incineration and thermal unit design, and new options in biodegradable plastics. The book also introduces product development opportunities from waste materials and discusses the main processes and pathways of the conversion of polymeric materials to energy, fuel and chemicals. A particular focus is placed on industrial case studies and academic reviews, providing a practical emphasis that enables plastics practitioners involved in end-of-life aspects to employ these processes. Final sections examine lifecycle and cost analysis of different plastic waste management processes, exploring the potential of various techniques in modelling, optimization and simulation of waste management options. - Introduces new pathways for the end-of-life treatment of plastics and polymers, including conversion to energy, fuel and other chemicals - Compares different options to assist materials scientists, engineers and waste management practitioners to choose the most effective and sustainable option - Covers the latest trends in the science and technology of polymer energy recovery