SCIENTIFIC USES FOR PLASTICS
REVIEW BY MR E. KALDOR
Failures in commercial plastic articles had largely been because manufacturers had ignored the limitations of/ their materials, said Mr E. Kaldor in an address to the mathematical and physical sciences section of the Royal Society of New Zealand at Canterbury University College. Plastics were complementary to more conventional materials, rather than a substitute for them, Mr Kaldor said, reviewing the scientific uses of certain thermoplastics readily available in New Zealand. Pertspex and polystrene had better light transmission properties than glass, and could readily be moulded into optical lenses free from distortion. Polythene piping up to 12 inches in diameter could be bent or joined, and nylon was highly suited for gear wheels and precision bearings. Research work carried out in the chemical engineering department of Canterbury College on the torsional oscillations of a suspended weight were discussed by Dr. T. Hagyard. The stresses involved were extremely low, and the results agreed with theory only when frietion within the metal was tak£n into .account.
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Press, Volume XC, Issue 27339, 3 May 1954, Page 12
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172SCIENTIFIC USES FOR PLASTICS Press, Volume XC, Issue 27339, 3 May 1954, Page 12
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