Avoiding Common Plastic Part Failures

Plastic materials offer many advantages over other industrial materials including light weight, low cost, and outstanding aesthetics. For these reasons, plastics have seen increased use for a wide range of applications. However, designers and engineers are sometimes disappointed when plastic parts don’t perform as expected.

Premature product failures can result in costly redesign and potentially product recalls which can damage a company’s brand.

This white paper provides a brief overview of the ten most common plastic part failures with suggestions for avoiding them. They include:

• Dimensional stability issues
• Failure at extreme temperatures
• Failure at high and low strain rates
• Creep rupture
• Stress relaxation
• Stress concentrations
• Premature wear
• Fatigue
• Environmental stress cracking
• Degradation from outdoor exposure