Whether the material is in its raw form or shaped into a usable component for an industrial application, plastic testing is critical. Raw, semi-finished or finished, manufacturers turn the material over for testing to discover its capabilities, its characterization and its quality. Each step of the way, departments request testing to ensure the best is the result. This is true for those in departments as separate as Research and development (R & D) and testing services (TS).
Typical Test for Plastics
Tests for plastics vary. Some are performed to the exclusion of others while some are combined to provide specific data on the behavior of plastics. Among the most common types of plastic tests are:
* Melt Flow Testing (MFT): Other names for this process are the melt flow rate (MFR) and the melt volume flow rate (MVR). The method helps to pin point variations in lots as well any degradation resulting from processing
* Chromatography
* Elemental Analysis
* Impact Testing: This involves using a Drop Tower
* Rheology
* Thermal Testing: This can involve testing the HDT (Heat Deflection Temperature) or VICAT softening point. the
* Spectroscopy: This method utilizes an infrared spectroscopy. Of the various types available, e.g. ATR, Raman UV/Vis and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), the most popular after around 70 years is still FTIR microscopy, spectroscopy
In fact, infrared spectroscopy of diverse kinds remains very popular for a number of reasons among analysis experts.
Plastic Testing Using Spectroscopy
Infrared spectroscopy (IR) is a favorite among industrialists. They recognize its benefits to many aspects of plastic analysis. They favor it mainly for two reasons:
1. Reliability
2. Cost-Effectiveness
As an analytical tool, IR is ideal for both identifying and assessing polymer plastics and the quality of the material samples being tested. Utilizing both reflectance and transmission sampling approaches, a company is able to supply reliable data on the material including:
* Quality of the polymer
* Identification of the polymer
* Qualitative analysis of the materials involved form the raw material, prototype project and finished product
* Quantified analysis pf the components comprising the mixtures
* Clarification and analysis of any existing or potential contaminants
The speed with which various IR methods, particular FTIR, can perform such actions is why the method continues to be favored by many manufacturers and product analyzers.
Plastic Testing
Companies have various reasons for testing their plastic materials, prototypes, components and products. They need to be certain the material is capable of performing, as it is required under the conditions and in the environment of its intended application. Polymer laboratories work with the manufacturers to achieve this goal on budget. They perform thorough plastic testing of which one popular method is infrared spectroscopy analysis.