Selecting a Material

This program’s purpose is to help engineers select appropriate plastic resins for various applications

You will be asked a series of questions to help determine the approximate resin.

Before starting this program a basic understanding of polymers is needed.

Plastic are materials composed principally of large molecules (polymers) that are synthetically made, or if naturally occurring, are highly modified. All plastic materials have property that at some stage, they have been or can be readily formed or molded into a useful shape. (Green)

A polymer is a molecule made up of smaller molecules that are joined together by chemical bonds.

A resin is a polymer that has not yet been formed into its final useful shape.

When selecting a material there are numerous constraints to consider. Some examples include: Appearance, Mechanical, environmental, safety, codes, standards, manufacturing method/design rules, and economics

Some simple steps are used for material selection

Step 1 – Define the Criteria for material selection

Step 2 – Determine the advantage and disadvantages of each polymer type

Step 3 – Select Polymers for special properties.

This section will ask the designer a series of questions concerning the functionality of the part to determine a suitable material. The software will process the responses and recommend the top potential materials. The materials will be displayed in order of rank, with the best material first, and the worst material last. Reasons for the rankings will also be displayed for each material.

Click here to proceed to the questions…