This book is the first of Rapra's new series of Polymer Testing books. Knowledge of the properties of plastics is essential for designing products, specifying the material to be used, carrying out quality control on finished products, failure analysis and for understanding the structure and behaviour of new materials. Each class of materials has its own specific test procedures, which have developed as the material has evolved. This book concentrates on one area of testing - short-term mechanical tests. These are defined as tests of mechanical properties where the effects of long periods of ti