Applications of Polymer Materials

Polymer materials are the foundation of modern technological development. Polymer materials, especially synthetic polymer materials, because of their excellent performance, have 

With the rapid development of the polymer material industry, the production of plastic, rubber, and synthetic fiber also increases year by year. Evidence shows that the plastic yield has exceeded the total yield of structural materials such as wood and cement synthetic rubber production has exceeded that of natural rubber and synthetic fiber production in the 1980s already reached two times that of cotton, wool and other natural and man-made fibers. 

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The second half of this volume is reserved to a discussion of specific craze problems encountered in practical application of polymer materials. J. A. Sauer and C. C. Chen analyze the fatigue behavior (mostly of rubber modified polymers). They show quantitatively the important effects of test variables and sample morphology on fatigue response. K. Friedrich gives an overview on the shear and craze phenomena in semicrystalline polymers. 

The third part of the book deals with the properties and applications of polymers. It starts with a discussion of polymer solution properties through the mechanical properties of polymers and concludes with an overview of the various applications of polymer materials solids. The viscoelastic nature of polymers is also treated. This section also includes a discussion of polymer fracture. The effects of various molecular and environmental factors on mechanical properties are examined. 

Generally, the material properties most important for application of polymer materials in industry and household goods as weU as for sports and recreation are the mechanical (short term Chapter 3.2, 4.1 - 4.4, 4.8 and 5, and long-term Chapter 4.6 and 4.7 for general information see also [84Nie] and [80Fer]) and thermal properties ( Chapter 3.1 and 3.3) followed by electrical, optical and other properties. 

Beside the mechanical properties the thermal properties such as the thermal expansion (Chapter 2.1.3.1) and the heat distortion resistance (Chapter 2.1.3.2) are secondly important for application of polymer materials. 

Interpenetrating polymer networks form a special class of polymer systems extremely expanding the field of application of polymer materials. 

The robust nature of earthwork constructions is likely to make material damage a more significant factor for soil reinforcement than for other applications of polymer materials, and therefore consideration should also be given to possible strength loss caused by installation damage. 

Stabilization also plays as important a role in applications of polymer materials, especially stabilization against the combined action of light and oxygen and the effects of continuous mechanical action. Even though the variety of mechanisms of polymer breakdown is great, chain processes of oxidation and chain decomposition play a basic role. Hence investigations related to the processes of the appearance of free radicals, the elucidation of their role as initiators of various chain processes of... 

The topic of polymer nanocomposites pertains to the synthesis, characterization, and applications of polymer materials with at least one or more dimensions less than 100 nm. According to the Rayleigh criterion, the maximum resolution or the minimum detectable size achievable was believed to be half the wave length of light, that is, 200 nm. The first clay nanocomposite was commercialized by Toyota with a belt cover made of a nylon-6 matrix filled with 5% clay. General Motors commercialized the first exterior trim application of nanocomposite in their 2002 mid-sized vans. 

With social and economic progress, the application of polymer materials will grow and the corresponding waste will increase rapidly. Therefore, making full use of resources and reducing environmental pollution are the final objectives of polymer material recycling. 

Real Application of Polymer Materials WITH A Gradient of Optical Properties ... 

In recent years there has been much interest in the application of polymer materials at the micro- and nanoscale as microelectronic devices are made smaller and smaller. Constantinides describes an analysis and experiments of materials at the nanoscale. An instrumented pendulum device with a diamond Berkovich indenter was used to indent polymer specimens at a rate of 0.7-1.5 mm/s. The highest impact velocity (1.5 mm/s) corresponded to an impulse energy of 250 nJ. (The Berkovich nanoindenter similar to the Vickers type is normally used for testing the hardness of a material. It has a three-sided pyramid shape. It has also... 

N. Muller, G.W. Ehrenstein, Mechanical Performance of Polyamide-6 after Screw Plastication in Inert Atmosphere. Proceedings of Symposium on Application of Polymer Materials in Engineering, ngdao, China, P. 161-168 (2002)... 

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