Key indicators for plastics performance in consumer products

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Abstract
Two overriding characteristics for major applications of plastics in consumer products are: —the need for high volume production and —their exposure to hostile environments.Successful application and continued growth for plastics in these products requires knowledgeable prediction of performance in the process to produce the plastic part and in the environments to which it will be exposed during the product's lifetime. Progress on establishing relationships between material properties and structure are described with emphasis on response to melt process conditions and behavior when exposed to hostile environments.Commercial plastics and the processes by which they are converted into useful applications are complex systems. A multitude of interacting variables must be dealt with in order to achieve successful implementation in commercial products. Specific examples are discussed in the area of processing for non‐Newtonian flow characteristics and overt effects in injection molding and extrusion, tailoring of polymers within established rheological limits and the influence of melt processing on physical and mechanical properties. The influence of application environments is discussed and specific examples are given for environmental stress cracking, stress‐environment embrittlement and the effects of hot water solutions on polymer systems.