Terms that are commonly used to describe defects or abnormalities found in different types of polymer pellets have now been collected in a standard developed by ASTM International Committee D20 on Plastics.

ASTM D7711, Guide for Description of Polymer Pellet Defects, is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee D20.92 on Terminology.

According to Diane Todd, senior chemist, quality control laboratories, Westlake Chemical Corp., a survey of D20 members conducted prior to the development of ASTM D7711 revealed that many potential users of the standard did not have a written procedure for identifying pellet abnormalities. Members surveyed were asked to list terms used by their organizations, and these terms formed the initial list used to develop ASTM D7711.

“Anyone who is in contact regarding polymeric pellets will now be able to communicate with the same terminology to anyone else,” says Todd, the chairman of D20.92, as well as the chair of the task group that developed ASTM D7711. “This will hopefully help polymer manufacturers, sales personnel, technical service representatives, quality control/quality assurance personnel and buyers/users identify issues with the pellets the same way, thereby expediting assistance with the issues.”

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ASTM Committee D20 Next Meeting: April 15-18, 2012, April Committee Week, Phoenix, Ariz.
Technical Contact: Diane Todd, Westlake Chemical Corp., Longview, Texas, Phone: 903-242-7968; dtodd@westlake.com
ASTM Staff Contact: Alyson Fick, Phone: 610-832-9710; afick@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #9025