Principles of Polymer Engineering

Abstract Polymers are important engineering materials. This book introduces the reader to what polymers are and how they are structured, provides understanding of their engineering properties, and explains how products are designed and manufactured from them. It is a substantial revision of the previous edition. The new Introduction reviews the range of industrial applications of polymers and also addresses problems for the environment that can arise, and how these are managed sustainably. Chemical structures and physical microstructures of polymers are explained, especially aspects of special interest to the engineer: melting, crystallization, and the glass transition. Distinctive mechanical properties of…