1. Methodology

Thermoplastics, which are the subject of specialized articles in this treatise, have been divided into 64 sub-families, taking into account possible additives: reinforcing fibers (glass or carbon), impact reinforcing agents, lubricants, etc.

For the abbreviations used, please refer to the article cited in the 2nd column of the tables and to the box opposite.

The graphs rank the subfamilies in ascending order of average value range, for each of the 36 properties selected.

The minimum and maximum values are taken from the monographs in this volume, except those in blue, which are taken from works such as Les Thermoplastiques (LRCCP, 1998) or Modern Plastics Encyclopedia, and also from Producers' technical data sheets (AES, Akzo Plastics, Allied Signal, Amcel, Amoco, Atochem, Bayer, BP chemicals, Celanese, Ciba, Cousin...