The plastics industry relies on testing at every stage – as raw material, as the compound, as a semi-finished product and as a end product. Of course, the testing requirement varies depending on whether it is for research and development or quality control .
There are various types of testing carried out for a plastic product. Some of them are listed below:
Let’s have a quick look at what each of the these tests are:
Melt Flow Testing: This test measures the melt flow rate (MFR) and melt volume rate (MVR) of a polymer in molten condition. Depending on the material, certain weight is applied on the material at a certain temperature and the measurement taken. Melt Flow Testing is carried out for checking quality of the raw material batches as well as final compound.
Impact Testing: There are two types of impacting testing methods. Drop Tower and Pendulum. Drop Tower testing measures energy absorbed by the material. The areas of application for this testing method is as follows: crack/tear resistance of automobile bumpers, thermoplastic pipes, storage containers, plastic films, plastic packets and more.
Tensile Testing: This testing type measures the physical properties of the product. The application for this testing is in variety of industries like Automobiles, Construction, Electronics, Medical, Consumer goods, Packaging and more.
Rheology: A Rheometer is used to measure the deformation and flow properties of molten plastic when varying temperatures and shear rates. The test helps understand the flow properties of recycled materials, in-process thermal degradation, building multi-layer films and more.
Thermal Testing: This test is performed to measure the heat deflection temperature (HDT) or heat penetration temperature, also known as the VICAT hardness (softening point). When metal alloy spare parts are replaced with plastic parts in automobiles, this thermal testing helps gauge the viability of the plastic parts to withstand heat.
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