Reminders about structure and cohesive forces
Physical and thermomechanical behavior of plastics

The properties of polymers are discussed in detail elsewhere in the monographs in this treatise (under the headings Thermoplastics: monographs and Thermosets: monographs ), but in the following we shall attempt to establish causal relationships between the general structural characteristics of polymers, which depend on polymerization parameters (cf. , and described in the articles Polymerization and Molecular structure and morphology of polymers and their physical and mechanical properties.

To this end, we will :

• make an inventory of influential structural features ;

• identify subsets with common general structural...