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

Fracture Behavior of Polypropylene Modified with Metallocene Catalyzed Polyolefin

Laura A. Fasce, Patricia M. Frontini, Shing-Chung Wong, Yiu-Wing Mai, May 2000

The fracture and deformation behaviors in polypropylene homopolymer toughened by metallocene catalyzed poly-ethylene elastomer are unknown. It is desired to understand the fracture and deformation mechanisms of PP toughened by the elastomer using standard puncture tests, J-integral fracture initiation toughness and tensile dilatometry. Preliminary results show that impact toughness of PP homopolymer was greatly enhanced in the presence of the elastomer. Volumetric strains were measured to estimate the degree of dilatational deformation relative to volume-conserving shear yielding.

Evaluating the Cutting Behavior of Amorphous Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Sheet Using Steel Rule Dies

Eric Moskala, Dennis Barr, May 2000

A technique for measuring the cutting properties of thermoplastic sheet using steel rule dies is presented. This technique can be used to evaluate the roles of die hardness, point size, temperature, and bevel as well as sheet thickness and temperature on cutting efficiency. The technique is demonstrated using oriented polystyrene and amorphous polyesters such as PET and PETG. The cutting mechanisms for these materials are examined by controlling the penetration depth of the steel rule die in order to create a series of partial cuts.

Survival of the Fittest: Utilizing E-Commerce as an Integral Part of Your Marketing Plan

Margaret H. Baumann, May 2000

Business-to-Business e-commerce has even greater potential than consumer focused e-commerce. We currently are in a transition from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. E-commerce is introducing new business models in many industries. This paper will describe how and why that is as well as how you can harness the power of the Internet as part of your marketing strategy and business development tools for the next decade.

Design of an Injection Mold with Removable Plates Using CAE

S. Villarroel, R.A. Morales, H. Rojas, May 2000

The objective of this work was to design a mold of normalized test specimen to evaluate mechanical polymer properties with removable plates to inject each specimen independently using computed-aided engineering (CAE). The design was validated through simulation program of the injection process C-MOLD. Four cooling systems, the position of the entrance and the percentage of shrinkage were evaluated. There were no differences between the cooling systems studied. The maximum shrinkage was less than 2% and no part warpage was observed

Free Volume and Molecular Mobility in a Styrene/n-Butyl Methacrylate Copolymer Series

George P. Simon, Charles L. Beatty, Stuart R. Andrews, Sara Shinton, Graham Williams, May 2000

In this work a wide series of copolymers of styrene and n-butyl methacrylate are investigated in terms of their physical and free volume properties. The study follows on from recently published work in which the relaxational and intermolecular coupling properties of this copolymer series was examined. It is found that even though the glass transition of polystyrene is higher than that of poly (n-butylmethacrylate), it has a lower density and higher molecular free volume fraction. The free volume fraction behaviour is complex, all copolymer values showing greater free volume fraction than the homopolymers. This correlates with a negative deviation over the Fox Tg behaviour of the copolymer. This is despite the moderately monotonic variation in the individual aspects of free volume (size and number of free volume pores). There are some dramatic changes in these properties at the extreme values of comonomer concentrations.

Intelligent Guidance of the Melt Front in Injection Molding Machines

Athanasios Bikas, Nikos Pantelelis, Andreas Kanarachos, May 2000

In the present paper the numerical simulation software 'NASPLAN' is presented allowing the intelligent guidance of the flow at the filling stage in an injection machine. NASPLAN allows the guidance of melt flow through prescribed p-q Time profiles. Especially the use of negative pressure is proved to be of great importance for the guidance of the Melt Front Advancement. This procedure leads to balance flow for complex geometry parts and multi-cavity molds. The primary objective of NASLAN compared to the conventional software is the improved part quality, by minimizing the flow defects (such as warpage, non-uniform shrinkage, sink marks). Additionally, the filling stage is completed in less time with the need of lower injection pressure. A simple part is adapted as a test case in order to visualize the effects of the above procedure.

Polyblends of Polyphenylene Ether with Styrene-Ethylene/Butylene-Styrene Block Copolymer

Rudolph D. Deanin, Paul Lunn, May 2000

Polyphenylene ether (PPE) and styrene-ethylene /butylene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS) were melt blended in ratios from 100/0 to 50/50. Balancing the molecular rigidity of PPE vs. the molecular flexibility of SEBS produced the expected qualitative effects on properties. Quantitatively, tensile modulus and tensile and flexural strengths gave monotonic curves for properties vs. polyblend ratio. All other properties - melt index, flexural modulus, ultimate elongation, impact strength, and heat deflection temperature - gave more complex curves. Practically, addition of SEBS produced significant increases in melt index, ultimate elongation, and impact strength, along with decreases in rigid properties.

Survey of Plastics Education in U. S. Colleges and Universities

Rudolph D. Deanin, May 2000

Inquiries to 234 schools found 66 which offered courses in plastics, for a total of 2492 credit hours. Classifying these by subject matter showed 768 credits in polymer science, 324 in plastics in general, 125 in plastic materials, 238 in structure and properties, 568 in processing, 170 in product design, and 299 in other applications of polymers. The plastics industry began in 1868 (1) reached commodity status in the 1940’s (2), and has been growing in size and diversity ever since. The earliest plastics entrepreneurs came from other fields, and educated themselves. With the continuing and expanding growth in numbers of materials and processes, and in the intensity of polymer science and engineering, the need for higher education specifically in polymers and plastics has also grown exponentially.

Make Flat Sheet Using Contrabend Rolls

Richard Palmer, May 2000

Most plastic sheet produced today is made using a typical three-roll sheet stack. Material is passed through a preset gap between the rolls to form the final thickness of the sheet. The variation in this gap is related to the bending of the chill roll, which is a major factor in the gage variation of the sheet. Producing flat sheet" has always been the goal of the sheet producer. Until recently there has been little advancement in cooling roll construction as it relates to bending in the cross line direction. The Contrabend Reverse Bending Roll has been developed to greatly reduce the effect of roll deflection on sheet thickness variation. This work will explore the Contrabend concept and compare the bending to standard chill rolls."

Design of an Injection Mold Using C-MOLD Software

H.B. León, R.A. Morales, O. González, May 2000

The purpose of this paper was to design a security cap and its injection mold using CAD/CAE tools. C-MOLD and Pro/ENGINEER softwares and the Concurrent Engineering Method were applied. The part and its mold were successfully designed in only 20 weeks.

Dynamic Rheological Properties of HDPE/Ethylene-Alpha-Olefin Copolymer Blends

R.A. Morales, J.J. Sánchez, A.J. Müller, May 2000

The blends of linear and branched polyethylenes have received much attention in recent years. Many studies have been carried out to evaluate the miscibility of these mixtures and its influence on the final properties. There still some degree of controversy on the issue of melt miscibility even though partial co-crystallization has been demonstrated for some of these systems.

Nucleation in Foam Extrusion

S.T. Lee, May 2000

Nucleation results are presented for polyethylene sheet extrusion while using volatile carbon dioxide without any nucleating agent to study homogeneous nucleation. Since the extrusion pressure has to exceed the system pressure, mechanical superheat was calculated from the processing pressure. The experimental results show a different distribution from the conventional nucleation predictions, based on either chemical superheat or mechanical superheat. Also noted was the shear energy dependence. Various nucleation mechanisms are discussed to address the energy role played by shear in foam extrusion.

Modeling Flow-Induced Crystallization in Film Blowing

Antonios K. Doufas, Anthony J. McHugh, May 2000

A mathematical model was developed for the simulation of film blowing including the effects of flow-induced crystallization, viscoelasticity, and film cooling. The microstructural model is based on the formulation of Doufas et al. Our model predicts the location of the freezeline naturally as a result of crystallization and the stresses at the frost line, which are closely related to the mechanical and physical film properties. Depending on the processing conditions, our model predicts uniaxial or biaxial film stretching.

Bubble Growth in a Solvent-Polymer Solution

Vivek Pai, Moshe Favelukis, May 2000

A model for the growth of a non-ideal gas spherical bubble in a quiescent viscous liquid is presented. The growth of the bubble in the solvent-polymer solution is assumed to be controlled by momentum, heat, and mass transfer. Using the integral method, the differential transport equations were transformed into ordinary differential equations, which were numerically solved. The numerical results show that the pressure inside the bubble can increase to extremely high values before it decreases to a value close to the ambient pressure. It was also found that at low solvent concentrations heat transfer is not important, and the usual isothermal assumption can be applied. The relevance of this work to the process of polymer melt devolatilization is discussed.

Flexible Polyolefins and Low Density Polyethylene Blends for Film Extrusion Applications

Magda M. Castillo, Steve J. Grossman, May 2000

Polyethylene/i-PP(isotactic/crystalline) blends have been studied for years. However, these blends indicate a phase separation that detracts from compatibility and alters properties. It is expected that a combination of a novel less-crystalline polypropylene (FPO) with LDPE will allow for greater compatibility over a wide composition range. The LDPE/FPO blends appear semicompatible. Specifically, film extrusion processability increases, blocking decreases, along with better film appearance, and improvements in tensile strength without a decrease in flexibility. Alternatively, toughness, elongation and impact resistance increase. These enhanced properties may lend the blends to potential packaging applications.

Foamed Polymer Sandwich Composites Reinforced with Three-Dimensional Filler

Y. Yuan, F. Shutov, May 2000

Open-pore flexible polyurethane (PUR) foam with various pore sizes (1 - 8 mm) was used as filler to reinforce low-density closed-cell PUR flexible foam. The final composite has a sandwich structure, where the core zone has foam-in-foam" structure and skin zones are unreinforced PUR foams. Compared to the regular non-sandwich one-layer PUR flexible foam the sandwich composite exhibits improved mechanical properties: the support factor can be increased up to 65 percent and the compressive force deflection value can be increased almost 100 percent while the density of the composite increases only 25 percent."

ANSI Standards Combined with European Hazard Ranking Methods Provide Plastic Web Processors with Powerful Tools for Enhancing Workplace Safety

Donn C. Lounsbury, May 2000

A set of four safety standards for film, sheet, coating & laminating, and plastic web winding machinery has been developed under the sponsorship of SPI, and accepted as consensus standards by ANSI. The author reviews some of the more significant requirements of these standards. The standards represent an excellent tool against which to audit existing processing lines to identify hazards to personnel. The European Community has evolved a standard (EN 1050)*1 methodology for identifying and ranking the hazards in processing plants. This methodology is outlined in detail. By utilizing both of these approaches in tandem, hazards can be identified by the auditing against the appropriate ANSI standards, the identified hazards ranked for probable degree of harm to personnel, then safeguarding actions prioritized to obtain the most benefit from the minimum effort.

Continuous Polymerization of Polycaprolactone in a Modular Co-Rotating Twin Screw Extruder

Byong Jun Kim, James L. White, May 2000

Bulk polymerization of e-caprolactone (CL) has been carried out in a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder using aluminum isopropoxide as a coordination-insertion" initiator under a range of processing condition including temperature profiles throughput and screw speed. This homo-polymerization was investigated for various ratios of monomer to initiator. GPC analysis demonstrated that significant quantities of oligomers were produced together with high molecular weight polymer under different reaction temperatures. For continuous polymerization at 130°C using a modular co-rotating twin screw extruder high molecular weight up to 200000 were produced without substantial oligomers by increasing the ratio of monomer to initiator."

Process Monitoring Using UV-VIS Spectroscopy

J.C.J. Bart, May 2000

The paper describes process monitoring applications by spectroscopic methods for polymer/additive analysis, polymer melt analysis, additive quantitation, QA/QC purposes, on-line compositional polymer analysis, in-situ reaction monitoring (cure kinetics, polymerisation, color designation, molecular interactions, monitoring of extrusion processes, real-time measurements and use of fiber optics. In particular, the current status of on-line multicomponent additive analysis in the polymer melt by means of UV-VIS spectroscopy will be illustrated.

Effects of Processing Conditions on Extruded Polystyrene Sheet Feedstock Quality

Kolapo P. Adewale, Robert Roberts, May 2000

This work investigates the influence of various extrusion parameters on the physical properties of rubber modified polystyrene sheets. The extrusion parameters under consideration are melt temperature, chill-roll temperature, line speed and sheet thickness. Optimum extrusion conditions for producing polystyrene sheet feedstock are discussed.