Plastics and rubber materials, or polymers, are increasingly the first choice of engineers where reliable cost-effective performance and safety are essential. The volume of polymers used in the western economy now exceeds that of metals, and today's engineers therefore need a thorough grounding in the properties and applications of polymeric materials. This is a substantially revised and enlarged edition of a text on engineering with polymers which was first published in 1983.

This book has its recent origins in a Master's course in Polymer Engineering at Manchester. It is a rather extended version of composite mechanics covered in about twenty five hours within a two-week intensive programme on Fibre Polymer Composites which also formed part of the UK Government and Industry-sponsored Integrated Graduate Development Scheme in Polymer Engineering. The material has also been used in other courses, and in teaching to students of engineering and of polymer technology both in the UK and in mainland Europe. There are already many books describing the analysis of and...