Book excerpt: Today engineers, designers, buyers and all those who have to work with plastics face a dilemma. There has been a proliferation of test methods by which plastic properties are measured. The property data measured by these test methods are not identical and sometimes have large differences. How are engineers, designers, buyers going to decide the type and resin grade and their property data? Which are the valid test methods? The right plastic property data are the difference between success and failure of a design, thus making the property selection process critical. For the first time this book provides a simple and efficient approach to a highly complex and time consuming task. There are over 26,000 different grades of polymers and millions of parts and applications, further adding to the difficulty of the selection process.Selection of Polymeric Materials steers engineers and designers onto the right path to selecting the appropriate values for each plastic property. A large amount of property information has been provided to teach and assist the plastic part designer and others in selecting the right resin and properties for an application. Various standards including ASTM, ISO, UL, and British Specifications have been discussed to help the readers in making sound decisions - A simple and efficient approach to a highly complex and time consuming task - Allows engineers to select from various standards including ASTM, ISO, UL, and British Specification - Presents information on properties such as tensile strength, melt temperature, continuous service temperature, moisture exposure, specific gravity and flammability ratings - Tried and true values narrow myriad choices down quickly for readers