Plastics are the most versatile materials ever invented, and have become a universal material, used for everything from water bottles to wings on combat aircraft to implanted artificial joints. Thermoplastic materials display properties that are unique when compared to other materials and have contributed greatly to the quality of our everyday life. At this moment, you are almost certain to be touching plastic. Yet, while plastics play such an important role, we do not always understand the fundamental concepts of their production, compounding, end properties, and use.

If words such as polymer, thermoplastic, creep, amorphous, and modulus are outside your normal vocabulary, this presentation is for you.

At the conclusion of this presentation, you will understand:

• How polymers build molecular weight through polymerization and its importance in the performance of thermoplastics.
• The role that polymer structure plays in shaping the key characteristics of plastics.
• How crystalline the plays an important role in determining the properties of plastics.
• The essentials of viscoelasticity.

The usefulness of thermoplastics is attributed to the fact that they provide a wide range of properties and can be changed into products by relatively simple and inexpensive fabrication means. In order to take full advantage of these materials, it is important to have a clear understanding of their composition and elementary properties.

About Speaker

Jeffrey A. Jansen
Engineering Manager
The Madison Group

Jeffrey A. Jansen is the Engineering Manager and a Partner at The Madison Group, an independent plastics engineering and consulting firm. Jeff is a proven plastic professional with more than 30 years of experience solving problems and addressing opportunities related to polymeric materials. He specializes in failure analysis, material identification and selection, as well as compatibility, aging, and lifetime prediction studies for thermoplastic materials. Jeff has performed over 5,000 investigations, both for industrial clients and as a part of litigation. He is a regular presenter on the SPE webinar series, covering a wide range of topics related to plastics failure, material performance, testing, and polymer technology. Jeff is a graduate of Carroll College and the Milwaukee School of Engineering.