Tensile Strength of Plastics and Product Design

The push for lighter, stronger products, using less material and being more environmentally friendly has many companies looking for new materials or new ways to manufacture their products. But switching to new materials is not easy, and engineers must understand how polymers react under specific conditions. Hasty material selection can result in product failure or worse. Proper planning, a solid understanding of plastic materials and prototyping are required. Start by defining the mechanical, thermal, environmental, electrical and chemical requirements of your application. Polymers are then evaluated against these requirements.

Below we discuss some mechanical properties that may be important to your application. The tensile strength and other mechanical properties of polymers allow engineers to understand strength properties that are critical to many products.