Theory, Design, and Manufacture

William J.Patton

The plastics are a more complex material than the metals and therefore, are less understood and not always successfully applied. This book describes the usual and unusual properties of the plastics and how to select, design, and apply them. Because the characteristics of plastics can be altered by their manufacturing process, it is necessary to understand this aspect, too. Therefore, the manufacturing of plastics is covered in these pages along with their theory and design, thus affording a though grasp of the subject.

The author admits that  even toda plastics are not fully understood even by technical personnel and further cautions that the skilled practitioner must use both imagination and care in working with plastics. The theme of the book is the understanding of the basic nature of plastics in general and the peculiar “personality” of each of these materials. Readers without a chemistry background will understand the material presented because of the way the author covers basic theory of polymer chemistry.