Creep properties

Plastic products are said to show a ‘creep behaviour’, where the product is deformed at room temperature as time elapses when an external force is applied continuously.

The phenomenon is also known as cold flow. When plastics are used for construction or industrial applications, cold flow is an especially important point to be considered. Under normal environmental conditions, rigid PVC products show very little creep and are superior in comparison with other plastic products such as PE or PP. Therefore, PVC is used in various interior and exterior construction materials (e.g. ducts, panels, window frames and decks) and electric or machine parts.