Root cause analysis of a failed plastic cover

Abstract

Manufacturers employing plastic parts routinely face the challenge of analyzing failed parts to determine the root cause and corrective actions. The tools used to perform this analysis often include infrared and Raman spectros-copy for chemical composition, UV-Visible spectroscopy for color and optical transmissivity, and thermal analysis for determination of physical properties. This paper describes a study utilizing all of these tools to determine why a plastic part used in a precision optical device failed when put into service.