Book excerpt: As plastics are being used more extensively in high-performance markets, it is imperative that designers and engineers understand all aspects of polymer behavior over an extended service life. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis for Plastics Engineering describes practical uses for DMA information. All of the information for 120 families of thermoplastics is based on independent test data conducted exclusively for this product and is not available through any other source. This PDL addition shows how to use the DMA data to predict, at various temperatures, each materials estimated service life and potential for failure. This book explains the correlation between time and temperature-dependence and illustrates how time-dependent responses such as creep and stress relaxation affect the practical utility of different materials. Basic polymer structures are discussed and test results show how these structural details can be detected and understood.