SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals

SPE Library


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!
Conference Proceedings
Magazine and Collected Articles
Newsletters (SPE Chapters)
Recycling
Rheology
Podcasts
Technical Article Briefs
Webinars
Plastic Surveys
Diversity. Equity and Inclusion
SPE News
SPE YouTube Channel
Event Recordings

Use % to separate multiple keywords. 


Search SPE Library
    
    




Sort By:  Date Added   Publication Date   Title   Author

Recycling

Various topics related to sustainability in plastics, including bio-related, environmental issues, green, recycling, renewal, re-use and sustainability.
Lightweight Sustainable Substrate Materials for Automotive Interiors
Matt Barr, September 2013

This presentation provides a global overview of natural fiber composite materials and processes highlighting current research as well as the next generation of lightweight automotive interior substrates. It discusses both pros and cons of various lightweight sustainable substrate materials (including the wide family of resinmatrixed composites with an assortment of fibrous additives ranging from wood to flax) taking into account material suitability for automotive interior substrate applications. The goal of this talk is to encourage discussion of uses and benefits of natural wood composites to reduce weight and increase product sustainability.

More Sustainable Non-Woven Fabric Composites for Automotive Using Coir (Coconut) Fibers
Walter Bradley, September 2013

More environmentally friendly composite materials for automotive manufacturing and building construction have been made by substituting coir fibers for the widely used polyester fibers to make non-woven fabric composites of coir fibers and recycled polypropylene fibers that can be compression molded into a wide range of parts or rolled into flat panels. This more environmentally friendly composite has a greater bending stiffness is more resistant to fire less expensive and without the odor problems that accompany many natural fibers.

Polyurethane Environment Friendly Sandwich Structure Load Floor
Allan James, September 2013

Dow Automotive and Magna International have developed a polyurethane-based system to enable a novel sandwich structure that includes extensive use of environment friendly materials. This system addresses two significant challenges in the automotive industry: weight reduction and incorporation of renewable materials. An ideal application for this technology is the load floor an interior component located in the rear of the vehicle immediately above the floor pan. This paper will review the performance requirements for a load floor the alternative materials and the development of a novel sandwich structure solution which gives the best mass to load performance with the capability to tailor shape requirements and includes the use of environment friendly materials.

Production of a Class 8 Truck Trailer Bed Using c-PBT Thermoplastic Prepreg and Vacuum Bag Processing
James Mihalich, September 2013

An ambitious multi-year program was recently undertaken in Europe to improve the sustainability of composites used in transportation – particularly with respect to the ability to develop thick parts with large surface areas economically. The program worked with a novel highly reinforced thermoplastic composite based on cyclic oligomers of polybutylene terephthalate (cPBT) which were used to produce thermoplastic prepregs that were then evaluated in vacuum bag processes while liquid cPBT / fiberglass systems were assessed in vacuum infusion and vacuum-assisted resin-transfer molding – all forming processes traditionally used for composites with thermoset (not thermoplastic) matrices. Once the best material / process combination for the program was determined and small-scale testing confirmed the finished composite provided sufficient mechanical performance the prepreg / vacuum bag process was selected to mold one of the largest thermoplastic parts ever produced: a 3-piece structural floor for a flat-bed trailer for a Class 8 truck which is the focus of this paper.

Progressive Forming of Thermoplastic Laminates
Uday Vaidya, September 2013

Thermoplastic composite laminates can be post-manufactured by progressively thermoforming them to generate contoured parts from prior flat panels. This process is attractive for expanding the potential usage of composite materials in next generation transportation infrastructure marine and military sectors for part replacement and structural applications. Thermoforming has proven to be an efficient means for creating parts of complex geometries. Accurately predicting material properties and temperatures prior to forming is of utmost importance to minimize waste and reduce cost for mass-production applications. This paper presents a finiteelement modeling approach to establish the manufacturing parameters for locally formed thermoplastic composite plates.

Protein Polymer with Cellulosic Filler Compatible in Various Thermoplastic and Thermoset Systems
Tim Bearnes, Raymond Schenk, September 2013

Distillers grain a by-product of the ethanol process has been used to produce thermoset and thermoplastic polymers that can replace a portion of and/or enhance traditional petroleum-based resins in various plastics manufacturing processes. The process results in unique characteristics and allows inclusions into finished plastics products at rates of up to 40% final bio content. The pellets produced are consistent with the standard feedstock materials used by plastic manufacturers in thermoplastics and currently are being tested with polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) and the bio-based polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and polylactic acid (PLA) resins in some applications. Trials are underway in injection molding rotary molding and extrusion molding. Test results have indicated improvements in some properties of finished goods with good processing characteristics when run at temperatures below 193C. Further testing in thermoset bulk-molding compound (BMC) has resulted in lower specific gravity while retaining physical properties and good surface finish.

Recent Case Studies of Engineering Thermosets for Under-the-Hood Applications (Part A: Overview)
Cedric Ball, September 2013

Automotive engineers are looking for options to reduce weight and increase engine efficiency to comply with new CO2 emission and fuel economy regulations. As a consequence under-the-hood operating temperatures continue to increase. Engineering thermosets are an effective lightweighting alternative to heavier conventional steel and aluminum die-cast products. They combine outstanding temperature stability long-term mechanical strength dimensional stability and high chemical resistance. This presentation focuses on 2 recent automotive underhood applications where phenolic-based engineering thermosets successfully replaced traditional metals. First a thermoset water pump housing was shown to outperform cast aluminum in dimensional stability while lowering overall weight; and a thermoset vacuum pump also originally designed in die-cast aluminum provided high mechanical strength and improved dimensional stability at reduced cost and weight. Finally various recycling methods for these thermoset materials are described.

Toughening PLA Composites with Natural Fibers and ENR
Abdul Shakoor, September 2013

Biocomposites are recent advancements used to develop cost-effective sustainable materials for numerous applications in response to the mounting needs to find substitutes for polymers based on fossil fuels. Polylactic acid (PLA) is an aliphatic and is the most promising in the bioplastics’ family although its use can be constrained by its poor mechanical properties lower thermal stability and processing difficulties. The objective of this research was to investigate and improve mechanical and thermal properties of PLA by developing PLA composites reinforced with hemp natural fibres results of which are discussed in this presentation.

Influence of graphene oxide on the thermal properties of phenolic resin
Yongxin Chen, Zhengjun Yao, Jintang Zhou , Tishou Xu, Yibing Wu, August 2013

Addition of graphene oxide enhances the elasticity, stiffness, and tensile strength of phenolic resin, and improves its heat stability by nearly 30°C.

Cellulose nanocrystals from garlic stalks as reinforcing filler for bioplastics
Fumihiko Hirose, Bashir Ahmmad, Joel R. Salazar, Enna Richel De Leon, Jerico Buenaobra, Melissa B. Agustin, August 2013

Starch-based biocomposite films incorporating spherical cellulose nanocrystals from garlic stalks offer a novel application of an underused natural fiber.

Totally bioresorbable stents with improved properties for cardiovascular disease
Jianting Dong, Lan Liao, Zhongyong Fan, Suming Li, Zhiqian Lu, August 2013

Semi-crystalline terpolymers prepared from L-lactide, trimethylene carbonate, and glycolide are promising materials for cardiovascular stents.

Fully bio-based composites from gluten and seaweed waste fibers
Rafael Balart , Alfredo Carbonell, Octavio Fenollar, Begona Ferrero, Maria Dolores Samper, July 2013

Using natural fatty acids to treat the cellulose components of green composites reinforced with agro-waste fibers reduces their water uptake resulting in stable and environmentally friendly materials.

Economical and environmentally friendly synthesis of porous cation-exchange resins
Syed Wasim Ali, Imtiaz Ahmed, Muhammad Arif Malik, July 2013

A method to synthesize strongly acidic cation-exchange resins from porous styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers can quickly monitor porosity and significantly reduce cost, health risks, and pollution.

Improved blown film extrusion of biopolymers
Khalid Lamnawar , Abderrahim Maazouz, June 2013

Poly(lactic acid) optimized with chain extenders, plasticizers, and nucleating agents forms stable and defect-free films with improved mechanical properties.

Multifunctional nanocomposites for environmental remediation
Xi Zhang, Suying Wei, Huige Wei, Jiang Guo, Hongbo Gu, John Zhanhu Guo, May 2013

Polyaniline-magnetite nanocomposites can efficiently remove Cr(VI) from polluted water, be retrieved easily with a magnet, be regenerated with acid, and be reused for further Cr(VI) removal.

Analysis of Sustainability-related Web Content for General and Medical Plastics Packing Firm
Shristy Bashyal, Bonnie J. Bachman, May 2013

The purpose of this study is to determine how plastic-packaging companies define sustainability or sustainable practices and communicate sustainable practices to its target audience e.g., customer, consumer. There are two research questions this study intends to answer. First, how do such companies define sustainability or sustainable practices, and second, what persuasive appeals are used to communicate sustainable practices to their audiences via a company website?

A Study of the Cure Compatibilization of Devulcanized Tire Tread Rubber and Polypropylene
Prashant Mutyala, Mohammad Meysami, Shuihan Zhu, Costas Tzoganakis, May 2013

The usage of waste tire rubber crumb as a dispersed phase in a thermoplastic matrix has been a topic of study for a long time. In order to obtain ‘value added products’ from polypropylene (PP) and waste ground rubber tire (GRT) crumb composites, the use of compatibilizers was found to be essential. The properties achieved remained inferior and thus GRT based thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) have limited applications. Due to similar reasons not many studies have been carried out on blending devulcanized rubber (DR) and plastics. However, DR being relatively more similar to virgin rubber is expected to perform better than GRT and result in improved properties as compared to GRT. This work expands our previous effort on a statistical analysis of compatibility between DR and PP, and the effectiveness of a sulphur cure system in compatibilization. We further study the role of a peroxide based cure system in detail with respect to compatibilization efficiency.

A Very High Molecular Weight HDPE Resin (VHMWPE) with Improved Chemical and Abrasion Resistance
Stanley Dudek, Dane Chang, May 2013

Applications, such as sheet and pipe, often require polymers that can resist abrasion during use. This is especially true if the application is to handle a slurry or grit. Although typical HDPE resins have good resistance to abrasion and can be broadly used with different chemicals, there are several applications that need a resin with improved abrasion resistance and good chemical resistance. For example, HDPE pipes designed to handle gritty water based slurries, such as mining slurries, may not be adequate to handle petroleum based slurries. This is especially true if the application is normally at an elevated temperature such as 60 degrees C. This paper discusses the evaluation of various HDPE resins and shows their differences in relationship to the environmental parameters encountered in slurry handling applications along with the processing parameters needed for manufacture. The different HDPE resins were tested at RT, 40 and 60 degrees C and at different immersion times in water and solvents. After the immersion conditioning, the resins were then abrasion tested. A modified HDPE resin shows acceptable abrasion resistance at both room temperature and elevated temperatures in both water and solvent based slurries. Evaluation of processability parameters were undertaken using melt index, spiral flow, and both lab and production extrusion equipment.

Additives to Improve Regrind Utilization and Recycling of High Barrier Blow Molded Containers
Jose M. Torradas, Renata O. Pimentel, David M. Dean, May 2013

The ability of maleic anhydride grafted polymers to compatibilize non-polar polyolefin polymers with polar polymers or contaminants has been confirmed and publicized by a number of experts in the field. This study reports on a new generation of random copolymers of ethylene and anhydride functional monomers specifically designed for compatibilizing blends of polyethylene polymers with polar components (other polymers or additives) in mixed recycle streams. The results show that these copolymers, with a very high level of reactive functionality (>3% wt. of anhydride), improve the impact strength of molded or extruded part made from mixed recycle streams containing Polyethylene Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH) or Polyamides (PA) even when the scrap contains high levels of moisture, lubricants or other resins. Two practical examples are discussed: use in regrind layers of extrusion blow molded containers and use in recycling of mixed polymer streams to produce other parts.

Adhesion Improvements of Nanocomposite Interfaces
Rory Wolf, May 2013

Attention has recently become focused on the performance advantages of nanocomposites, and particularly polymerbased nanocomposites with respect to incumbent “neat” polymers or metallic materials for lightweighting initiatives. In the interest of sustainability, the specific use of bio-reinforced nanocomposite parts and nanostructured coatings within automotive, aerospace, construction, medical and packaging applications is accelerating. These “green” nanocomposites can provide high mechanical strength at low density, low weight, and low cost while generating low carbon dioxide emissions. However, there are interfacial surface adhesion challenges with these and other nanocomposites, in addition to particle distribution and stability issues, which can inhibit full realization of their mechanical performance advantages. This paper will profile polymeric nanocomposites and nanocoatings, as well as define surface modification protocols using atmospheric pressure plasma technologies to optimize interfacial adhesion to similar and dissimilar materials.







spe2018logov4.png
Welcome Guest!   Login

How to reference articles from the SPE Library:

Any article that is cited in another manuscript or other work is required to use the correct reference style. Below is an example of the reference style for SPE articles:

Brown, H. L. and Jones, D. H. 2016, May.
"Insert title of paper here in quotes,"
ANTEC 2016 - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA May 23-25, 2016. [On-line].
Society of Plastics Engineers, ISBN: 123-0-1234567-8-9, pp. 000-000.
Available: www.4spe.org.

Note: if there are more than three authors you may use the first author's name and et al. EG Brown, H. L. et al.

If you need help with citations, visit www.citationmachine.net