SPE Library

The SPE Library contains thousands of papers, presentations, journal briefs and recorded webinars from the best minds in the Plastics Industry. Spanning almost two decades, this collection of published research and development work in polymer science and plastics technology is a wealth of knowledge and information for anyone involved in plastics.

The SPE Library is just one of the great benefits of being an SPE member! Are you taking advantage of all of your SPE Benefits?

Not an SPE member? Join today!

Use % to separate multiple keywords.

Search SPE Library

Conference Proceedings

New Technology for the Coloring of Rotationally Molded Products

Scott Aumann, May 2014

This paper will describe a new technology for the coloring of rotomolded plastic parts that will contain a pearlescent effect pigment and show a superior finished look to dry blended materials in the past.

Properties of Co-Extruded Multilayer Packaging Films from Biopolyethylene and Milled Soy Flour

Christopher T. Thellen, Corey Hauver, Jo Ann Ratto, May 2014

Multilayer packaging films from bio-polyethylene/soy flour composites were produced via co-extrusion processing through feedblock technology. Three layer films were produced containing up to 20% milled soy flour in the core layer, with neat polyethylene skins. Oxygen permeability of the films decreased by as much as 38% with the addition of soy flour to the core layer, but tensile strength values decreased by 29% in comparison to the neat multilayer control.

What Consumers & Customers Want in Sustainability

Surendra H. Agarwal, May 2014

Today everyone is concerned about Sustainability - protecting today's environment for future generation. Sustainability has become major initiative by all companies. Consumers want sustainable/ Green packaging but most of them do not want to pay more for Green Packaging. Consumers & Customers want 'Cost-effective Sustainable' Packaging”. It's responsibility of everyone in supply chain to work together to meet demands of their consumers and customers.

Effect of the Localization of Silica Particles on the Morphology of Poly(Lactic Acid)/ Polyethylene Blends

Ebrahim Jalali Dil, Basil D. Favis, May 2014

In this study, the effect of the addition of spherical silica particles on the morphology of poly (lactic acid)/polyethylene blends is studied. It is shown that the silica particles are selectively localized in the PLA phase. The effect of silica particle concentration in the PLA phase on the overall morphology of the blend structure is studied in detail.

Relaxation Zones in Extrusion Dies

Gerhard A. Martin, Kalman Geiger, Andreas Sobotta, May 2014

When designing extrusion dies very often only the flow in the die is balanced. To avoid polymer depositions in the die the wall shear rate and the wall shear stress are calculated. For minimal internal stresses in the extrudate a relaxation zone upstream of the land length is helpful. The characteristic values for designing the relaxation zone are the relaxation time and the critical shear rate. The calculation used is the finite volume element method.

Melt Spinning Polyethylene Terephthalate Nanofibers

Sudheer Bandla, Jay C. Hanan, May 2014

The process of making nanofibers using centrifugal forces was explored for melt spinning of Polyethylene Terephthalate. Processing boundaries were established for PET fibers from low viscosity resin. An average diameter of 4300 nm was achieved with a stable process. The effect of process variables and the role of viscosity in controlling the fiber diameter were discussed.

Material Selection Based on Feel: A Methodology for Technical Evaluation

Eric R. Larson, May 2014

This paper discusses the use of feel as an evaluation method for plastic material selection. This method is intended to complement existing material selection methods.

PPE Macromonomers - Use in Anhydride Cured Epoxy

Edward N. Peters, Eylem Tarkin-Tas, May 2014

Polyphenylene ether (PPE) telechelic macromonomer and hexahydrophthalic anhydride were used to cure epoxy resins. This unique combination different curing agents resulted in single phase morphologies over the compositional range studied. Broad enhancements in performance were noted compared to anhydride cured epoxy resins. Indeed, there was an increase in glass transition temperatures (Tg), impact strength, flexural strength, fracture toughness. In addition, the dielectric properties were lower and there was a decrease in moisture absorption.

Amphiphilic PPE-PHE Block Copolymers as Compatibilizers for Polyester Blends

Edward N. Peters, Joseph Flanagan, Olivier Guise, May 2014

Unique amphiphilic polyhydroxy ether-polyphenylene ether (PPE) block copolymers were evaluated as compatibilizers between thermoplastic polyester and polyphenylene ether. Variables studied were PPE content and MW in the block copolymer on morphology and physical properties. Overall there were broad performance enhancements, which included significant increases in toughness.

Die Drool Phenomenon in Polymer Extrusion

Martin Zatloukal, Jan Musil, May 2014

In this work, breakthrough works in the field of unwanted die drool phenomenon occurring in the polymer extrusion processes are reviewed with specific attention to the role of die design and processing conditions.

Improving Impact Performance of PMMA through Prestress and Orientation

Angela Cugini, Alan Lesser, May 2014

This work studies the optimization of prestressed Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), through equibiaxial compression with increasing amounts of shear and simple shear prestress for improved impact performance. The equibiaxial compression prestress with the slight shear demonstrates the highest performance at low velocity rates. The simple shear prestress is also combined with orientation of PMMA, which improves performance suppressing the large radial crack growth that is inherent for simple shear prestress.

Poly (Lactic Acid)/Polyamide11/Cellulose Multiphase Systems

Vahid Heshmati, Musa R. Kamal, Basil D. Favis, May 2014

Nano crystalline cellulose (NCC) / PLA/bio-Polyamide11 (PA11) blends were prepared at different compositions by melt blending. A homogenous nano-scale NCC dispersion in PLA/PA11 blends was achieved. Both Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) reveal the localization of NCCs in both phases and at the interface. Also, the images show no significant changes in the morphology of the PLA/PA11 blends for up to 2 wt% NCC.

New Isosorbide-Polycarbonate via Interfacial Polymerization

Jean-Francois Morizur, May 2014

Polymers based on aliphatic diols derived from bio-sources are of great interest in the plastics industry for the preparation of bio-derived products. Such products may show noticeable advantages compared to their oil-based counterpart such as biodegradability, biocompatibility and a low net environmental impact. The present paper discloses the synthesis and basic characterization of a new class of isosorbide-containing polyester carbonates.

Elongation and Shear Deformation of Polymers in a Wedge Slit

Gerhard A. Martin, Kalman Geiger, Eberhard Grünschloss, May 2014

To achieve a good homogeneity of polymer melts in single screw extruders mixing elements are common. There are distributive and dispersive mixing elements available. A dispersive mixing element works better with additional elongational flow in a wedge slit. The elongation and the shear deformation are determined and the total deformation is calculated.

Numerical Study on Deformation Behaviors under Compressive Load when PET Bottles Changed Form

Young Bae Ko, Changoh Kwon, Seunghyun Cho, Gunmyoung Park, Gilsang Yoon, Jongdeok Kim, May 2014

Even though many researches have been carried to reduce thickness of the PET bottle for saving manufacturing cost, but there is challenges to guarantee mechanical strength under top-loading after making the PET bottle of thin thickness. This paper investigates the large deformation characteristics of a PET bottle under compressive load by an experimental and a FEA. The Arc length method is used in nonlinear FEA to understand the buckling phenomenon of the PET bottle.

Assessment of the Changeability of Plastics Processing Systems

Florian Mieth, Hans-Peter Heim, Viola Sauer, May 2014

Changeable production systems are still being developed, especially in the field of plastics processing. Here, the assessment of the changeability is a decisive factor. This investigation deals with the assessment of the changeability of a modular pilot plant, and derives approaches for the further development of an evaluation system, as well as potential means to increase the changeability.

Lean Design of Experiments for Plastics Processing: A Lean Statistical Thinking Case Study

Vinh D. Huynh, Stephen Czupryna, May 2014

Manufacturing companies all over the world have significantly improved their competitive posture by adopting lean philosophies and methods. A logical next step is to apply lean principles beyond the factory floor and extend them to R&D and process engineering. Company managers can ask themselves: • Are my production processes optimized? • Are my process optimization methods lean? • Is my product development process lean? This paper provides some answers to these questions in case study format.

Compatibilization Improvement of Nylon 6/Polypropylene Blends

Ying Shi, May 2014

This paper is a case study of different types of compatibilizers for nylon 6 and polypropylene blends. The compatibilizers that were investigated in this study were maleic anhydride grafted copolymers. The compatibility was evaluated by thermal properties, knit line tensile strength, and other mechanical properties of blends. The blends that exhibited strong knit line tensile strength were considered as highly compatibilized.

Evaluation of Different Heat Transfer Models for 9-Layer Film Blowing Process by Using Variational Principles

Martin Zatloukal, Roman Kolarik, May 2014

In this work, coextrusion experiments utilizing an industrial 9-layer Brampton Engineering coextrusion film blowing line has been performed in order to evaluate three different heat transfer models by using variational principles.

Injection Molding of Highly-Porous Polypropylene Foams

Raymond K. Chu, Lun Howe Mark, Davoud Jahani, Chul B. Park, May 2014

This paper presents the injection molding of highly-porous polypropylene foams with the core-back technique and a crystal-induced strategy. Through introducing the core-back foam expansion process near the crystallization onset of polypropylene, cell nucleation would be promoted, and thereby, increasing the probability of cell wall opening. Foam experiments were conducted over a range of dwelling times to examine the proposed strategy. At the optimal dwelling time of 48s, microcellular open-cell morphologies were achieved.