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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Low gloss finishes (≤2 GU at 60°) are a demand across a variety of industries. These low gloss finishes must provide scratch, mar, and burnish resistance to maintain physical and visual integrity over the lifespan of a product. This can present unique challenges within interior automotive, where low gloss finishes are expected to provide luxurious aesthetic characteristics as well as support the need for anti-glare application for driver safety. The high traffic of automotive cabins requires the low gloss finishes to be highly resistant to chemical and abrasion resistance throughout the lifetime of the vehicle. Continuous evolution in the methods used to evaluate interior automotive materials has led to the development of new, innovative coating technologies that exceed previous scratch and chemical resistance expectations for interior finishes. The performance capabilities of new coating technologies and the supplemental benefits they bring enable designers to achieve low gloss, quality finishes that exceed Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) testing demands for performance and quality while remaining cost-effective.
The effects of high-shear flow on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were studied to characterize potential impacts of industrial processing on these materials. A microcapillary rheometer was employed to study the rheological characteristics ofaqueous CNC suspensions at concentrations ranging from 1.5 wt% to 12.1 wt%.Increased cellulose content in the suspensions produced increased viscosities. A Sisko model was successfully fit to the data which display high shear Newtonian plateaus. Shear rate sweeps at these concentrations failed tofullyreduce to a master curve. Furthermore, repeated testing of the same sample volume at nearly 800000 s-1led to a permanent decrease in viscosityfor all samples.Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) probed CNC morphology to observe any changes in the CNC dimensions which may have contributed to this phenomenon. AFM resultsindicate significant decreases in both height and length of the CNCsafter repeated testing at high shear rates.
Three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) modeling has been carried out in this study to investigatethe scratch-induced surface deformation and damage mechanisms in composite coatings applied on polymer substrate. Composite coating systems with anisotropic properties and variation in thicknessare considered in the numerical framework to study the influence of coating anisotropy and layer thickness on scratch behavior. The results show that coating anisotropysignificantly affectsthe scratch resistance of coating systems. Implications of the numerical findings on scratch resistance of coating systems are discussed.
The effect of long-chain branching (LCB) on scratch behavior of polypropylene (PP) was investigated. In this study, the model LCB PP samples were modified viareactive extrusion process by incorporating increasing amount of polyfunctional monomerin PP. Small amplitude oscillatory shear results show that LCB level in PP increases with increasing polyfunctional monomer introduced. Moreover, increasing LCB content slightly improves the tensile strength of PP. ASTM D7027/ISO19252 standard scratch test was employed to determine the scratch resistance of the model LCB PPs. It is found that incorporation of LCB delays the onset of fish-scale formation.
Nanofibrous membranes in membrane technology applications for water and wastewater treatment have gained interests among researchers because of their high mechanical and chemical resistances. In this study, Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibrous membranes were prepared by electrospinning method with 20 wt% PVDF solution. The effects of processing parameters including flow rate, applied voltage, tip-to-collector distance and presence of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on fibers morphology were observed using scanning electron microscopy. The changes of fiber diameters, pore size, and membrane porosity were investigated to investigate the characteristics of nanofibers as a function of processing parameters. The modified membranes with MWCNT were characterized with contact angle analyses and water filtration tests to evaluate the performance of the membranes.
3D Digital Image Correlation (DIC) provides the ability to measure non-contact 3D coordinates, displacements and strains of materials and structures. Although widely accepted in mechanical engineering and materials engineering, this tool as yet to prove its capability within the biomechanics industry with soft tissues, bones and most medical-specific materials. Known for its unique capability to be used for rapid full-field measurements from material characterization to full component testing, providing the equivalent of the results of over 10,000 contiguous strain gauges or displacement sensors, this technique is now recognized and certified (NIST, Boeing...) as equivalent to standard mechanical testing tools in the aerospace and automotive industries. 3D DIC is used across industries for improving the quality and the accuracy of the data collected to best understand mechanical behaviors of components or validate FEA models. This work focuses on the integration of the DIC technology with load frame such as Instron, MTS and Zwick for simple coupon testing of soft tissues, implants and prostheses. It was shown that DIC could in fact provide a more flexible measurement platform with capabilities for any coupon size, very small to large strains with a single instrument as well as multi-axial data in every direction for each and every one of the biomechanics applications evaluated.
The ASTM D3359 and ISO 2409 standards are currently utilized to rank the adhesive strength between the coating layer and substrate by quantifying the damaged area across the crosshatched region after a tape pulling. However, these standards neither specify the forces needed to cut the film and rub the tape nor spell out the speed and angle of the tape required during peeling. These uncertainties lead to inconsistent results. Another issue is that the current standards only apply to rigid substrates. Consequently, the above methods cannot be applied to soft multi-layer films for adhesive strength determination. In this study, a new test methodology has been developed for quantitative determination of adhesion in soft thin multi-layer polymeric films. The depth of the surface cutting was controlled using an instrumented machine. The processes of attaching, rubbing, and peeling the tape were also automated by the instrumented machine to allow for repeatable and reliable test results. Lastly, instead of using visual assessment to rank adhesive strength of the multi-layer films as instructed in the standards, our proposed new method will quantify interfacial adhesion between the top-layer and in-layer of the multilayer films based on the principle of energy conservation. Fundamental structure-property relationships on multilayer films can now be established.
It's the package that sells in the market. Decoration of injection moulded parts are no exception. Commonly known decorative methods are screen printing, pad printing, hot stamping or painting. However, to enhance productivity and achieving design freedom, new decorating methods such as Insert Moulding (IM) is gaining popularity.
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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
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.