What Is Environmental Stress Cracking and How To Prevent It Webinar

 

Engineering plastics are widely used in chemical environments due to their broad resistance to aggressive media. Certain plastics are susceptible to environmental stress cracking (ESC), or premature brittle failure caused by the combination of stress and adverse environmental conditions. ESC is one of the most common causes of plastic part failure.

This webinar provides engineers and designers with an overview of ESC, plastic material selection, plastic part design, and assembly, in order to avoid costly part failures. Download the webinar slides.

Webinar topics include:

  • What is ESC and what causes it?
  • The time-dependency of thermoplastic mechanical properties
  • ESC as a form of accelerated creep rupture
  • ESC mechanism: initiation, propagation
  • Testing for ESC resistance
  • Preventing ESC - material selection, part design, and assembly considerations
  • Predictive methodologies and interpreting chemical resistance data

Presented by Timothy Buchanan

Timothy Buchanan

Timothy Buchanan is the Technical Service Engineer for Curbell Plastics’ Business Development Team. Tim helps support the highly technical needs of customers who depend on Curbell for their performance plastics.

He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Chemical Engineering degrees plus Chemical Engineer in Training (EIT) status with the National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors (NCEES). Tim was deeply involved in academic research and continues to write and publish technical content in his role with Curbell Plastics.