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.
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Conference Proceedings
PACKING PARAMETERS EFFECT ON INJECTION MOLDING OF POLYPROPYLENE NANOSTRUCTURED SURFACES
Matteo Calaon, Guido Tosello, Hans Hansen, C. Ravn, A. Islam, May 2012
In today´s industry, applications involving surface patterning of sub-µm to nanometer scale structures have shown a high growth potential. To investigate the injection molding capability of replicating sub-µm surface texture on a large scale area, a 30x80 mm2 tool insert with surface structures having a diameter of 500 nm was employed. The tool insert surface was produced using chemical-based-batch techniques such aluminum anodization and nickel electroplating. During the injection molding process, polypropylene (PP) was employed as material and packing phase parameters (packing time, packing pressure) were investigated. The replicated surface topographies were quantitatively characterized by atomic force microscopy using specific three-dimensional surface parameters and qualitatively inspected by scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that the degree of replication from the toll to the polymer part was mainly influenced by packing pressure level and distance from the gate.
DEPENDENCE ON MELT VISCOSITY OF FOAM PC/ABS INJECTION MOLDING AND MECHANICAL PROPERTY
Takahiro Kunimune, Tsugio Nagasawa, Noriaki Kunimune, Kazushi Yamada, Masuo Murakami, Hiroyuki Hamada, May 2012
This research has developed a novel PC/ABS blend foam injection moldings by focusing on the relationship between foaming agent, PC/ABS ratio, melt viscosity and mechanical properties in foaming PC/ABS materials. Higher melt viscosity exhibited high notched impact strength and smaller microcellular foam internal structure. Moreover, ABS could act as foam nucleating site so that the increment of ABS contents would increase foam internal structure, which benefit for light weight materials with high impact performance.
THE EFFECT OF MACHINE DIRECTION ORIENTATION ON MULTILAYER HIGH BARRIER FILMS
Danielle Froio, Sarah Schirmer, Jo Ann Ratto, Matthew Burke, Gregory Pigeon, May 2012
The effect of machine direction orientation (MDO) on high barrier packaging films was investigated. Multilayer films incorporated an ethylene co-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) core and polyolefin skin layers. Total film thickness and layer configuration were varied to determine the effect on film performance and compatibility with the orientation process. Films underwent a 4:1 stretch ratio, and displayed a 33% reduction in oxygen permeability, a 75% increase in modulus, and a five time increase in tensile strength.
FRICRIVETING OF CIVIL ENGINEERING COMPOSITE LAMINATES FOR BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
Lucian Blaga, Sergio T. Amancio-Filho, Jorge dos Santos, Radu Bancila, May 2012
This article presents a feasibility-study of the new joining technology Friction Riveting (FricRiveting) on glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites and lightweight alloys. Glass fiber reinforced polyetherimide and titanium grade 2 were selected as an alternative solution for truss girder connections in composite bridge construction. Joints without extensive damaging of the fiber network were selected for mechanical testing based on their heat input generation. Fairly strong joints with tensile strengths within 1900 to 4000 N were achieved in this preliminary study. Tensile strength could be directly associated with the anchoring performance of the deformed tip of the rivet. The higher the Aspect Ratio (the penetration of the rivet divided by the width of the deformed rivet tip) the stronger were the joints. Fracture analysis of the tensile specimens revealed a new failure type (full rivet pullout) not observed in previous works. Further process optimization is required to achieve the levels observed for non-reinforced thermoplastic polyetherimide.
IMPROVED MANGEMENT OF PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY THROUGH APPLICATION OF MOLD BASED DATA COLLECTION
Alan Hickok, May 2012
There are multiple methods of tracking and monitoring mold performance and production output using on-board machine data count or discrete network-based systems within a production facility. However, these techniques miss the complete history of the mold from first trials through its life in production and including maintenance intervals and component design changes. Using on-board mold monitoring allows transparency and control of capacity, modifications and maintenance of the mold to deliver better overall performance and cost.
FOAMING OF POLY(ETHYLENE-CO-OCTENE) WITH SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE ACROSS ITS MELTING RANGE
Raymond Chu, Yanting Guo, Jin Ho Zong, Nanqiao Zhou, Chul Park, May 2012
The objective of this work is to devise a strategy to produce high quality poly(ethylene-co-octene) foams through the study of the crystallization behaviors of foams attained across the melting range of the material. Experiments were conducted in a batch-foaming apparatus at different saturation temperatures and pressures. Through proper control of processing parameters, and thereby crystallization behavior and melt strength of the polymer matrix, POE foams with a micro-cellular morphology of 1.3x109cell/cm3 were achieved.
MOLECULAR NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN EPOXY-AMINE THERMOSETS
Christopher M. Sahagun, Sarah E. Morgan, May 2012
Nanoscale interrogation of the fracture surfaces of cured epoxy systems has revealed the presence of non- homogenous network structures. This complicated network structure contains areas with varying levels of crosslink density. The connectivity of the network drives important material parameters such as mechanical properties and solvent and water permeation. This work presents an analysis of the network development of a typical aerospace- grade epoxy system with special attention paid to the influence of network connectivity on the fracture toughness.
POLYMER PARTICLE INTERACTIONS IN NANOCOLLOIDS
Burcu Ozel, Mehmet Yildiz, Yusuf Z. Menceloglu, May 2012
The rheological properties of complex fluids has been one of the interesting research subject due to the macroscopic behaviour (namely shear thinning and shear thickening) exhibited when they are subject to shear force. All concentrated suspensions under right conditions can exhibit the non-Newtonian flow behaviour, however, the required conditions and the underlying mechanism are not well understood in literature. To this respect, this study systematically investigates the effects of physicochemical parameters on the flow behavior of colloidal nanoparticle suspension (CNS) to shed a light on the mechanism behind the shear thickening behavior of CNS. We have also presented the outcomes of experimental studies of CNS with a low particle volume fraction, and anisotropic and flocculated microstructures through measuring their viscosity and electrical resistance under various shear forces together with utilizing several relevant characterization methods (i.e., Dynamic Light Scattering, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Capacitance Measurement). It is observed that studied CNS display shear thickening/thinning flow behavior depending on their microstructure forms due to the interaction forces among particles and associated changes in floc sizes, which are controlled by the shear induced hydrodynamical forces. The detailed valuation of the experimental results indicates that the shear thickening phenomena in low volume fraction, anisotropic and flocculated systems is mainly attributed to the increase in the total surface area and the effective volume fraction of particles due to both hydrodynamic and interparticle forces.
A STUDY ON THE ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE OF BIO-BASED COMPOSITE FOAMS OF PLA AND PHBV
Shahrzad Ghaffari Mosanenzadeh, Hani E. Naguib, Chul B. Park, Noureddine Atalla, May 2012
Bio-based foams are the solution to environmental concerns regarding petrochemical-based foams. However, bio-based foams possess weak structure. To increase the potential of replacing current petrochemical foams, mechanical characteristics of bio-based foams need to be improved. This paper studies the effect of blending two bio-based polymers on mechanical and acoustic properties of resulting polymer composite foams. Blends of Polylactide (PLA) and polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) were foamed and characterized in terms of acoustic, mechanical properties and foam morphology.
DEVELOPMENT OF BEAD FOAMING TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE PEEK. 1.THERMAL ANALYSIS
Hui Wang, Shuling Zhang, Mohammadreza Nofar, Reza Barzegari, Chul B. Park, ZH Jiang, May 2012
In this paper the evolution of double peak melting behavior of PEEK was investigated for bead foaming purposes. A regular differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and a high pressure DSC were used to simulate the double peak generation without and with the dissolved CO2, respectively, to simulate the bead foaming. The effect of saturation temperature saturation pressure, and saturation time were investigated in this simulation. It was found that the required saturation temperature to obtain an appropriate double peak structure decreases by increasing the saturation pressure.
THE SCIENCE OF FORMULATING OLEFIN BLOCK COPOLYMERS
Jeff Munro, Jose M. Rego, Lisa Madenjian, Kim Walton, May 2012
Introduced in 2006, INFUSE™ Olefin Block Copolymers (OBCs) have since been explored in many markets and application areas, including soft compounds. Key molecular design elements were identified as critical factors to the manufacturing of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) with the required property balance. This paper is aimed at providing an overview of the main considerations for formulating OBCs for soft compound applications and highlights the sustainability advantage of OBC compounds relative to styrenic block copolymer compounds.
SOLUBILITY AND DIFFUSIVITY OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN POLYPROPYLENE/MICRO-CALCIUM CARBONATE COMPOSITES
Jie Che, Tao Liu, Ling Zhao, Wei-kanf Yuan, May 2012
This work aimed to investigate the effect of concentration of micro level filler, i.e. micro- calcium carbonate (MicroCaCO3) and interface bonding condition between filler and polymer matrix on solubility and diffusivity of CO2 in polypropylene (PP)/MicroCaCO3 composites. The diffusion coefficient of CO2 decreased with increasing loading of MicroCaCO3 for both kinds of PP composites, suggesting that MicroCaCO3 acted as significant gas barrier during gas diffusion in PP composites.
PARTICLE SIZE AND CONCENTRATION EFFECTS ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYETHER BASED TPU/SILICA NANOCOMPOSITES
Ozge Malay, Oguzhan Oguz, Cagla Kosak, Emel Yilgor, Iskender Yilgor, Yusuf Z. Menceloglu, May 2012
Polyether based thermoplastic polyurethaneurea (TPU)/silica nanocomposites were prepared and characterized. Poly(tetramethylene oxide) glycol (PTMO-2000), Polyethylene glycol (PEG-2000) based TPU with 20 and 30 % urea hard segment content was synthesized and used for the current study. Silica nanoparticles were prepared according to Stöber method in 2-propanol. Thermal and mechanical properties of novel PTMO-base TPU/silica nanocomposites with silica loadings of 1-40% by weight and with average silica sizes of 20-180 nm at constant loading % were determined. The effects of (i) amount of silica loading and (ii) size of silica on thermal and mechanical properties of the resultant thermoplastic nanocomposites were investigated by infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy techniques, and stress-strain and nanoindentation tests. It was shown that even distribution of silica in PTMO-based TPU polymers influenced the thermal and mechanical properties of nanocomposites with respect to both filler content and filler size. Incorporation of silica nanoparticles with lower particle size provided higher modulus and tensile strength and led to a stiffer structure of TPU/silica nanocomposites while retaining their elastomeric properties.
EFFECTS OF PROCESSING PARAMATERS ON COLOUR MISMATCH DURING COMPOUNDING
Jamal Alsadi, Shahid Ahmad, Usman Saeed, Ghaus Rizvi, Daniel Ross, Richard Clarke, James Price, May 2012
In the present study, the effect of three processing parameters, temperature, screw speed, and feed rate, was investigated for polycarbonate compounding. The parameters were varied individually to five different levels to analyze their effect on color formulations. An intermeshing twin-screw extruder (TSE) was employed for the three different grades associated with the same color being used on site at SABIC IP in Cobourg, Ontario. The compounded polycarbonate were molded into flat coupons, which were then analyzed for their CIE L*, a*, and b* values, measured with a spectrophotometer. Historical data was obtained and analyzed using Stat-Ease Design- Expert® software for Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The effects of these processing parameters were studied to evaluate their effect on three different grades.
POLYMER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN COSTA RICA
none, May 2012
The plastic industry in Costa Rica has been well positioned starting with the fabrication of plastic bags for commercial usage and banana plantations around sixty years ago. Currently there are in Costa Rica about one hundred companies which include certain type of polymer transformation into their operations. These companies can be found in fields like packaging, appliances, medicine, computer processors, textiles, and construction, to mention only few of them. Engineers hired for these companies are mainly industrial, mechanical and chemical engineers with few or null knowledge in polymer science and engineering. It is because of this that thirty years ago the only polymer college program currently in Costa Rica was established at the School of Chemistry of the Universidad Nacional (UNA). The program initially was called Research of Agro Industrial Resources, focused on the extraction of high-value lignocellulosic materials from agro industrial residues of coffee, banana, or pineapple processing. The program changed its name to Laboratory of Polymer Research and Technology (abbreviated as POLIUNA) and has evolved to research on synthetic polymers and polymer composites over the years. More recently, the laboratory has been involved in several scientific projects concerning nanoscience and nanotechnology with applications in materials, medicine and biotechnology.
SIMULATION OF THE FOUNTAIN FLOW EFFECT BY MEANS OF THE RADIAL FUNCTIONS METHOD (RFM)
Daniel Ramírez, Iván Darío López Gómez, Omar Estrada, Tim Osswald, May 2012
The fountain flow effect has important implications in the quality of injection and compression molded parts: it affects the orientation of the macromolecules and, therefore, the mechanical and optical properties of molded pieces. In the case of reinforced parts, it also affects the fiber orientation and distribution. The fountain flow effect is modeled using the Radial Functions Method (RFM). Good agreement between the obtained results and the existing data in the literature was attained. Two cases were considered: power law model in a slit and Newtonian fluid in a vertical pipe.
ON-LINE SENSORING IN EXTRUSION-BASED PROCESSES: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
João M. Maia, May 2012
The challenges materials processing and compounding face nowadays are related not only with the design and control of better and more efficient machines but, essentially, with the manipulation of the molecular structure of the materials, with a view to obtaining innovative high performing products. Extruders are a fundamental part of any extrusion process and intermeshing co-rotating twin-screw extruders, in particular, have special application niches, being the equipment of choice for blending and compounding operations, mainly because of their good distributive and dispersive mixing capabilities. In fact, they are used in most important modern polymer applications such as compounding of filled polymer systems and masterbatches, polymer melt homogenization, polymer modification and the polymer blending. Very often, the last two operations involve, apart from polymer processing, chemical reactions, classical examples of which are the peroxide induced degradation of polypropylene to prepare grades with controlled rheology, and the grafting of maleic anhydride onto polyolefins to improve their compatibility with other polymers. Although these are widespread value-added processes in the polymer industry, there is often a gap in the fundamental knowledge of the properties and physical and chemical composition of the materials being processed during the extrusion process because the extruders are “black boxes” in which the properties of the initial materials, as well as those of the final product, are known, but not the kinetics of the transformation process. This poses severe limitations to current operations because without this knowledge any optimization effort of material structure and/or properties is done by trial- and-error and, thus, is very time consuming and offers no guarantees that the final product is, in fact, optimal. In this work, we present a review of recent developments in on-line sensors that allow for the monitoring of the rheological, chemical and s
EFFECTS OF HYDROLYTIC DEGRADATION ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RENEWABLE BIOPLASTICS: POLY(TRIMETHYLENE MALONATE) AND POLY(TRIMETHYLENE ITACONATE)
Mathew D. Rowe, Ersan Eyiler, I-Wei Chu, Keisha B. Walters, May 2012
Hydrolytic degradation of two renewable copolymers, poly(trimethylene malonate) (PTM) and poly(trimethylene itaconate) (PTI), was performed in aqueous solutions adjusted to pH values ranging approximately from 5.5 to 11. The influence of the degradation on the elastic modulus of these bioplastics was examined by a new atomic force microscopy (AFM) mode. Elastic modulus was monitored as a function of degradation time (100 to 10000 min) in DI water to determine changes. After degradation for one week the elastic modulus of PTI has decreased by 71 %. PTM was found to be hygroscopic. Due to significant swelling and uneven surfaces—in both the dry and wet state—PTM samples could neither be easily imaged nor its nanomechanical properties evaluated by AFM.
NANOFIBRILLATED CELLULOSE REINFORCED POLYVINYL ALCOHOL: PROPERTIES AND SOLUBILITY OF CARBON DIOXIDE
Yottha Srithep, Lih-Sheng Turng, Ronald Sabo, Craig Clemons, May 2012
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) was mixed with a nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) fiber suspension in water followed by casting. The transmission electron scanning (TEM) images revealed that the NFC fibers dispersed well in PVOH. The presence of NFC significantly increased the tensile modulus of the nanocomposites nearly threefold and could serve as a nucleating agent, promoting the early onset of crystallization. However, at a higher NFC content, it led to greater thermal degradation of the PVOH matrix.
LIFETIME PREDICTION OF PLASTIC PARTS – A CASE STUDY
Paul J. Gramann, Javier Cruz, Jeffrey A. Jansen, May 2012
Lifetime prediction of plastics is a very difficult proposition, but one that is becoming increasingly important as plastics are used in more demanding and critical applications. The lifetime of a plastic part is influenced greatly by many factors including the type of plastic, stress level, temperature, type of loading, and environmental conditions. All these factors make absolute lifetime prediction a nearly impossible task. However, by understanding how these factors influence plastics over time, one can begin to make educated predictions with some level of accuracy. This paper will discuss techniques that can be used to predict the lifetime of a part. A case study is given on how lifetime prediction was used to understand and ultimately solve the cracking of an industrial fan made of glass reinforced polypropylene
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