7 – DESIGN RELIABILITY

This chapter describes design reliability of plastic products. The nature of plastic materials is such that an oversight of even a small detail in its properties or the method by which they were derived could result in problems and product failure. Vibration-test information is used to aid in adjusting the design to avoid unfavorable responses to service excitation, such as the occurrence of coupled resonance. Total quality management will help to improve design quality; specific quality-related steps are also necessary during the design phase. These additional steps will further enhance the product design. To target for better yields, higher quality, and increased profits, fabricators should consider statistical process control and statistical quality control techniques as standard tools for understanding, validating, and improving processes in all areas of manufacture that includes product distribution, transportation, and accounting. Dynamic deflection can produce unacceptable vibration and noise. It is found that when a stable structure is required, the amount of deflection can set the limit for buckling loads.