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Additive Manufacturing 101: Did you know that ASTM has recognized seven distinct families of Additive Manufacturing and that the industry is over 30 years old? In this introduction to the industry, professional educator Brian Slocum will cover the history of Additive Manufacturing and dive into how each of these families differs, a basic understanding of how they work, and some of the unique applications they make possible. Amaze your friends with your incredible knowledge of different additive processes and their never-ending list of acronyms.
Involved in many aspects of Lehigh University, Brian’s primary role revolves around the act of making. In addition to managing Lehigh’s premier Makerspace, the Wilbur Powerhouse, he also serves as Director of the Lehigh University Additive Manufacturing Lab, and the Design Labs which include both wood and metal shops. While his passion is helping students physicalize their ideas and teaching them how to think with their hands in addition to their heads, Brian also teaches courses in design, metalworking, prototyping, and design-build and serves as a faculty advisor for the TE Capstone program.
Greg Treich is an Applied Technology Scientist with Evonik Silanes focusing on Plastics, Fillers, and Industrial Applications out of their Piscataway NJ laboratory. Greg received his BS in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and PhD in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Connecticut where his focus was on the design, synthesis, and testing of high energy density dielectric materials for capacitor applications. Prior to Evonik he worked for several years at Cytec Solvay Group developing and validating thermal and UV stabilizers for a variety of thermoplastic polymers. He is a member of the ACS, SAMPE, and a Board Member/Councilor for the Society of Plastic Engineers.
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With eleven years of industrial experience spanning from extrusion to product development to production management, Mark took the opportunity to help educate and inspire the next generation of plastic professionals at his alma mater, Penn College. With a primary teaching focus of Injection Molding, Mark is looking to further the science of the process as well as refining the “art of molding”.
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Adam Barilla is a Co-department head and faculty member of the Plastics & Polymer Technology program at Pennsylvania College of Technology. He holds a Master of Science degree in Educational Development and Strategies from Wilkes University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Plastic and Polymer Engineering Technology, and an Associate of Applied Science in Plastics & Polymer Technology from Pennsylvania College of Technology. He also has a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt from Lean Sigma Corporation.
Barilla co-authored a technical paper for the Society of Plastics Engineers entitled “Optimization of Rotational Molding Cycle Through Thermal Data Acquisition”. Prior to teaching at Penn College, Barilla was employed at Highwood USA LLC as a Plant Engineer. He was responsible for designing custom extrusion tooling for the outdoor living products industry.
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Haikun Xu obtained a master's degree in Materials Science from WPI and a doctoral degree in Plastics Engineering from UMASS-Lowell. Currently, Haikun is working at Krauss-Maffei Extrusion as a Process Engineer. He is vigorously working with customers to provide the appropriate technical solution to their extrusion needs and working on R&D trials. He has experience on co-rotating twin, counter-rotating twin, and single screw extrusion process.
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Mark A. Spalding is a Fellow in PE Product Research and Development in Midland, MI. He joined Dow in 1985 after completing a BS from The University of Toledo and a MS and Ph.D. from Purdue University, all in Chemical Engineering. He has performed fundamental research in single-screw extrusion, developed methods to measure resin physical properties that are important to polymer processing, developed numerous techniques to troubleshoot and increase the rates of extrusion lines, and has developed new mathematical models for extrusion simulation. He has designed and troubleshot numerous extrusion lines for Dow and for resin customers. Mark led rate increase projects for numerous PE production plants that were rate limited by the finishing section of the plant. He was instrumental in doubling the rates of many foam lines and fiber lines by applying fundamental technologies. Early in his career, he developed diagnostic techniques to determine the root causes of flow surging for many styrenic resins, and then redesigned the process to eliminate the surging. He has developed a screw deign protocol for mitigating gels in PE film lines. Many Dow resin customers have benefitted by using these techniques to optimize their extruders for rate and quality. He has authored 398 CRI reports and 157 outside publications. Mark coauthored the book “Analyzing and Troubleshooting Single-Screw Extruders” with Gregory A. Campbell, and is the editor of the “Handbook of Industrial Polyethylene and Technology.” He is a Fellow and Honored Service Member of SPE, a current member of the Extrusion Division Board of Directors. He was awarded the Bruce Maddock Award in 2006 for his contributions to the industry in single-screw extrusion, and the SPE Research and Engineering Award in 2019. He has won Best Paper awards in the SPE Extrusion and Injection Molding Divisions 10 times.
TBA
Mark A. Spalding is a Fellow in PE Product Research and Development in Midland, MI. He joined Dow in 1985 after completing a BS from The University of Toledo and a MS and Ph.D. from Purdue University, all in Chemical Engineering. He has performed fundamental research in single-screw extrusion, developed methods to measure resin physical properties that are important to polymer processing, developed numerous techniques to troubleshoot and increase the rates of extrusion lines, and has developed new mathematical models for extrusion simulation. He has designed and troubleshot numerous extrusion lines for Dow and for resin customers. Mark led rate increase projects for numerous PE production plants that were rate limited by the finishing section of the plant. He was instrumental in doubling the rates of many foam lines and fiber lines by applying fundamental technologies. Early in his career, he developed diagnostic techniques to determine the root causes of flow surging for many styrenic resins, and then redesigned the process to eliminate the surging. He has developed a screw deign protocol for mitigating gels in PE film lines. Many Dow resin customers have benefitted by using these techniques to optimize their extruders for rate and quality. He has authored 398 CRI reports and 157 outside publications. Mark coauthored the book “Analyzing and Troubleshooting Single-Screw Extruders” with Gregory A. Campbell, and is the editor of the “Handbook of Industrial Polyethylene and Technology.” He is a Fellow and Honored Service Member of SPE, a current member of the Extrusion Division Board of Directors. He was awarded the Bruce Maddock Award in 2006 for his contributions to the industry in single-screw extrusion, and the SPE Research and Engineering Award in 2019. He has won Best Paper awards in the SPE Extrusion and Injection Molding Divisions 10 times.
Mark A. Spalding is a Fellow in PE Product Research and Development in Midland, MI. He joined Dow in 1985 after completing a BS from The University of Toledo and a MS and Ph.D. from Purdue University, all in Chemical Engineering. He has performed fundamental research in single-screw extrusion, developed methods to measure resin physical properties that are important to polymer processing, developed numerous techniques to troubleshoot and increase the rates of extrusion lines, and has developed new mathematical models for extrusion simulation. He has designed and troubleshot numerous extrusion lines for Dow and for resin customers. Mark led rate increase projects for numerous PE production plants that were rate limited by the finishing section of the plant. He was instrumental in doubling the rates of many foam lines and fiber lines by applying fundamental technologies. Early in his career, he developed diagnostic techniques to determine the root causes of flow surging for many styrenic resins, and then redesigned the process to eliminate the surging. He has developed a screw deign protocol for mitigating gels in PE film lines. Many Dow resin customers have benefitted by using these techniques to optimize their extruders for rate and quality. He has authored 398 CRI reports and 157 outside publications. Mark coauthored the book “Analyzing and Troubleshooting Single-Screw Extruders” with Gregory A. Campbell, and is the editor of the “Handbook of Industrial Polyethylene and Technology.” He is a Fellow and Honored Service Member of SPE, a current member of the Extrusion Division Board of Directors. He was awarded the Bruce Maddock Award in 2006 for his contributions to the industry in single-screw extrusion, and the SPE Research and Engineering Award in 2019. He has won Best Paper awards in the SPE Extrusion and Injection Molding Divisions 10 times.
Raymond A. Pearson received a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, in 1980 and a Ph.D. degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1990.
Dr. Pearson joined the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA in August 1990. Prior to graduate school, he had worked for seven years with General Electric Company: from 1980-1984 as an associate staff member at GE's Corporate Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York and from 1984-1987 as a materials specialist at GE Plastics Europe’s Product Technology Center in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands. Ray is currently a Professor of materials science and engineering and the Director of the Polymer Science and Engineering graduate program. His research interests include all aspects of processing, deformation, yield, and fracture of polymers as well as adhesion and interfacial issues in microsystems packaging. He is an Executive Board Member (Vice President Publications) of the Society of Plastics Engineers and is a member of the Board of Directors for SPE’s technical interest group on Additive Manufacturing, Palisades Mid-Atlantic Section and Polymer Modifiers and Additives Division.
Dr. Ron Kander is the Associate Provost for Applied Research at Thomas Jefferson University. He is also the founding Dean of the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce at Jefferson and is a Professor in the College’s Engineering Program. He teaches and does research in the areas of material selection, materials processing, characterization of composite materials, and systems modeling.
Before joining Jefferson, he was founding Director of the School of Engineering at James Madison University and a faculty member in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. Before that, he was a Senior Engineer at DuPont in the Advanced Composites Division of the Fibers Department and in the Polymer Physics Group of the Central Research Department.
Dr. Kander’s recent work has focused on an integrated study of the material science, process engineering, product design, supply chain economics and sustainability of industrial and consumer products made from hemp-derived materials. He is a member of All Together Now PA’s Hemp Coalition and currently chairs the PA Department of Agriculture’s Hemp Steering Committee.
Dr. Kander received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.
Christopher Gagliano, Project Manager for the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center, has worked for Pennsylvania College of Technology for 10 years. Prior to Penn College, he worked in the heavy gauge thermoforming industry for 25 years in various capacities including manufacturing, quality, tooling, engineering and technical sales.
In his current role, Mr. Gagliano works with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to global corporations to support their Research & Development and training needs. He is part of the Workforce Development team responsible for curriculum and computer-based training module development in support of plastics apprenticeship programs.
Mr. Gagliano is a member of the SPE Thermoforming Division and Association of Rotational Molders (ARM).
A method was developed for fabricating recycled composites from post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) carpets and recycled PET resins. Compression molding of the components under different pressures, temperatures, and compositions was performed. Preliminary molding conditions were arrived at based on analyzing the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and melt viscosity data for different raw material combinations. Molding factors were screened to define applicable ranges for each parameter. The effects of configuration and composition of components, temperature, molding time, and pressure were considered in the screening process. Mechanical properties of composites were determined by 3-point flexural (according to ASTM D790) and creep tests. The molded materials showed acceptable mechanical strength and modulus values required for structural applications.
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With thermally sensitive materials, processing on a twin-screw extruder (TSE) is sometimes a challenge. There are several techniques and concepts that can be applied to minimize the exposure of these materials to temperature. With consideration of factors including screw design, OD/ID ratios, throughput rate vs. screw rpm, formulations, and front end design a system can be designed to minimize thermal exposure and create a robust process. Significant decrease of melt temperature has been seen with proper melting section design. Depending on the screw design, rpm, throughput rate, and viscosity of the material a reduction of melt temperature up to 60°C was achieved. The temperature readout on a standard temperature probe may not accurately represent the actual temperature of the material which was found to be up to 50°C hotter measured by a handheld immersion probe. Overall, careful consideration of process design, with material properties in mind, is helpful to limit the thermal exposure of sensitive materials.
Brian Haight is the Assistant Lab Manager at Leistritz, some of his responsibilities include operation of extruders, process support, and training. He is a graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering. He has been published by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and in the second edition of the textbook titled “Pharmaceutical Extrusion Technology”.
Key Takeaways:
Haleyanne Freedman is the Global Engineering Market Manager for 3D Printing at M. Holland. She got her start in industrial manufacturing working for an Optics and Lens manufacturing company before happening upon an opportunity in Additive Manufacturing which changed the trajectory of her career significantly. She was then recruited to manage the new-to-market 3D Printing division at one of the largest machine tool importers in the United States. Haleyanne has since developed in-depth knowledge and expertise in 3D printing through her professional work as well as her time working and experimenting with her home 3D printing lab which houses 9 of her own 3D Printers. She is well-versed in multiple CAD programs and received a certification in Additive Manufacturing Polymers and Metals from MIT. Haleyanne leads M. Holland’s Additive Manufacturing group directing strategy, directing the consulting, and engineering efforts of the division, while advising clients on equipment and product selection, process optimization and adoption, design and engineering, and material and application validation. Haleyanne serves as the North America National Chair for Women in 3D Printing and the Vice Chair of Women in Manufacturing. She is also active in the Northeast Ohio Manufacturing Cluster, the Additive Manufacturing Users Group, the Society of Women Engineers. Haleyanne was awarded the “Rising Stars” award by Plastics News in 2020 and the “Most Influential Women in Manufacturing”. Haleyanne has a strong presence in the 3D printing community, delivering presentations and training sessions at many industry events. Haleyanne often presents at RAPID + TCT, AMUG, AMI, and many other plastic industry events. In her interview with 3DPrint.com, Haleyanne discussed her background and offered insight on how additive manufacturing can be implemented in traditional manufacturing.
You may contact Haleyanne directly at the contact points above. For Haleyanne’s podcast bookings, white paper collaboration, presentation materials and more, please contact Rodney Perez, +1 847.946.0613 or rperez@mholland.com.
An explanation of the fundamental differences in several key process variables occurring in both single and twin-screw extrusion, with an emphasis on melting mechanisms and the presentation of a newly designed melting section.
Kirk Cantor is Professor of Plastics and Polymer Engineering Technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA, where he has been teaching since 1990. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn College, he was an aerospace engineer at NASA where he worked with polyethylene film for high altitude scientific balloons. Kirk received his BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland and his MS and PhD in Polymer Science from The Pennsylvania State University. His primary area of interest is polymer extrusion and he is the author of “Blown Film Extrusion,” now in its 3rd edition from Hanser Publishers.
Mechanical recycling is the most cost-effective plastic recycling method worldwide. While plastics’ applications have become more demanding, and more advanced recycling methods are needed, this traditional manner of recycling, despite its limitations, will continue to be an important part of plastic recycling. It is for this reason that technology developers and equipment manufacturing companies continue to work on improving the way to recycle plastics, focusing on PET, HDPE, and PP, the three thermoplastics most suitable to be mechanically recycled. Most appealingly, the economics of processing scrap to flakes indicate that mechanical recycling can produce recycled pellets that can be economically competitive against virgin material.
Marisabel is a Senior Consultant in NexantECA. She has participated in several world-wide sustainability studies involving technology evaluations, economics, and strategic planning for thermoplastics and renewables. Recently, Marisabel has been the co-author of numerous multiclient reports that have focused on conversion and depolymerization recycling technologies of plastics waste as well as gasification of MSW. A Honduran native, she received a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College.
The last few years have noticeably increased the industry pressure for enhancing sustainability and establishing a circular economy. Approaches to circular design encompass multiple options from enhanced recyclability to the use of recycled or renewable materials to reduce the use of conventional resins. Engineered for a circular economy, Kraton’s CirKular+ innovations bring a holistic approach to product lifecycle by enabling end-of-life recyclability, enhanced PCR quality, and reusability of mixed plastic waste. Easy to use CirKular+ additives unlock a balanced approach to PCR performance and value enhancement across the value chain as a drop-in solution. The dry blending of CirKular+ additives offers a cost-effective approach as additives in virgin and recycled polypropylene without compromise in mechanical properties. Recycling applications formulated with CirKular+ grades have been shown to increase the amount of recycled content and improve product performance, processability, and aesthetics. In this presentation, we will corroborate the positive contributions of CirKular+ polymers in recycling applications with data and case studies.
Freddy has spent more than 30 years of his career focused on developing Styrenic block copolymers and new applications. Freddy is passionate about enabling innovative solutions to meet unmet market needs with a broad experience in polymer modification, compounding and automotive applications. Most recently, Freddy has been supporting the launch of CirKular+™, a new Kraton product line to enable plastics upcycling and circular solutions.
The past decade has made it abundantly clear that the human race must speed up its transition to a circular economy for plastics, where this valuable resource that is intertwined with our life’s evolutionary fabric, never turns into waste or pollution. As stakeholders in the plastic industry unfold a common vision of “No Plastics in Nature”, it is encouraging to note the progress made by manufacturers, corporates and governments across the globe in setting base-line targets for plastic waste reduction and improving its proper end-of-life management.
Yet, beyond goal-setting, the next essential imperative will be to efficiently measure and track circular actions and progress as we continue inching closer to 2030. By introducing waste traceability in recycled plastics, using digital verification of material composition and chain-of-custody documents through waste conversion supply-chains, there exists a viable and scalable solution to improve plastic waste management at a country, state, town or street level while inspiring more support from end-consumers too.
In verifying how sustainability commitments translate into real action, the need for reliable authentication systems that track how waste is being cut or managed across the plastic value-chain is also abundantly clear: Waste transparency supports circular economy principles in three major areas, viz. ensuring ethical and quality sourcing through provenance details, determining recycled material compositions to understand fitment for recycling and tracking material flows for better waste management on a system level.
By enabling sharing of certified data on waste collection to conversion digitally, plastic producers, brand owners and recyclers have the opportunity to trigger higher assurance and confidence in their recycled plastic portfolios and processes. With radical transparency, the outcome intended is equal stakeholder accountability and participation in keeping plastics in our economy and out of the environment.
In the next 30 years, the world will be discarding about 3.4 billion tons of total waste as estimated by the World Bank. That’s a high 70% jump from 2.01 billion tons disposed in 2016. If countries and industries are to make an effective transition away from a linear economy, validating recycled content claims made by inter-connecting stakeholders through an authenticated, traceable loop, is a reasonable way forward to trigger self-perpetuation.
Towards this end, AVI Global Plast has built a digital platform for waste traceability that shares Chain-of-Custody overview, documentation and certifications, right from waste collection to a new package. Such traceability can chiefly serve regulatory compliance, consumer safety and brand integrity needs. The latter especially holds relevance as regulators worldwide step-up screenings against “greenwashing”.
With a one-source digital dashboard for recycled plastics, brand owners can track circular packaging through their transformative journeys with ease. Besides offering key certification & documentation, AVI’s waste traceability platform is designed to let partners access to raw material break-up (post-consumer waste, post-industrial waste, virgin content) for measuring sustainability progress. In terms of environmental impact, estimates of CO2 emission savings, landfill avoidance and the number of post-consumer PET bottles recycled are also made available.
Since going circular would heavily rely on inspired and informed consumers, triggering positive behavioral change towards more recycling and segregation at source is crucial too. Here, a digitalized recycled packaging platform like AVI Trace makes QR codes available for every batch of recycled packaging supplied. This QR code can be printed on finished packages, letting consumers access complete packaging provenance and positive environmental impacts at the touch of a smartphone. The expected consequence is to influence purchase decision-making and loyalty towards more transparent and reliable sustainability claims by brands.
In summary, this white paper highlights the needs and benefits of introducing radical transparency in recycled plastic packaging value-chains. It supports the collective imperative of achieving circularity by the turn of this decade and sheds light on why waste traceability matters today, what loopholes must first be closed to achieve full circularity and the potential business benefits that may be reaped with improved data confidence through digitalized waste management pathways.
Sukhdeep Sethi is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and an alumnus of INSEAD. He currently serves as a Director at AVI Global Plast, India’s most trusted PET sheet manufacturer and thermoforming company. With 18 years of experience in driving sales, marketing, strategy planning and new product development at the company, he has been integral to the expansion and diversification of AVI Global’s packaging solutions, working alongside reputed multi-national brands across 6 continents and diverse industries, from FMCG to pharma. Some of his key contributions include launching tamper-evident clamshells, heat-seal punnets and premium designs for exotic fruits while adding new capabilities for medical device and ESD packaging.
New technology Boundary Breaker allows user to incorporate higher level recycled material PCR by breaking down contaminates and increase mixing to give better distribution of PCR and other additives. Incorporated at low levels Boundary Breaker will reduce viscosity and improving the flowability of the polymer without reducing physical strength.
Currently he is Co-owner and the Head of Research and Development specializing in materials fluid interfaces for Ecopuro. Ecopuro is company that develops new technologies through advanced materials.
Masters in Chemical Engineering, with over 25 years’ experience in R&D within aerospace other industries. Where he has worked doing research and development with companies such as: NASA, the Pentagon , Ballistic Missile Defense, Boeing, Raytheon, Army, 3M, BASF, Behr, Canon, Toyota to mention a few and has over 200 patents filed globally.
How do you walk the walk after you’ve talked the talk? You pledged your company to sustainability goals such as increasing plastic recycle content and reducing carbon footprint – but, how do you get there? There’s more to Plastics Technology Innovation than Industry 4.0. There’s just so much you can do with software and hardware. Optimization cannot be achieved without first making more efficient use of the materials in the products you make
My mission in life is to teach the more efficient use of raw materials and – as an entrepreneur who has been signing payroll checks for half-a-century – and an inventor with thousands of global patents by me and my customers – I will show how it can be done. We will look at how polymers are made – and how they are compounded – and provide solutions that will reduce cleaning and sorting and allow you to mix all the polymers and fillers in a melt compounder and make a better product faster.
The extruder becomes a reactor for coupling and catalysis of all the materials in the recycle fed into the hopper. Here’s how:
Current plastic recycling and sustainability goals are limited by the intrinsic incompatibility of many polymers and the negative effect of fillers and impurities on end-product properties thus requiring a high degree of expensive sorting, separating and cleaning. Another barrier is the melt processing of polymers causes chain scissoring resulting in recycle and regrind materials having inferior properties compared to virgin. Current compatibilizers offered to recyclers are based on co-polymers or maleic anhydride modified polymers. Co-polymer compatibilizers require extensive sorting to match up the polarities of the recycled materials and maleic anhydride depolymerizes condensation polymers such as PET and Nylon obviating their use in post-consumer recycle. MAH technology claims to be a coupling agent, which is true for rebuilding molecular weight – but, misnomered when applied to coupling filler and organic interfaces.
Ziegler–Natta catalysts have been used in the commercial manufacture of various polyolefins since 1956. Ziegler showed a combination of TiCl4 and Al(C2H5)2Cl gave comparable activities for the production of polyethylene. Natta used crystalline α-TiCl3 in combination with Al(C2H5)3 to produce the first isotactic polypropylene. Kaminsky discovered that titanocene and related complexes emulated some aspects of these Ziegler-Natta catalysts but with low activity. He subsequently found that high activity could be achieved upon activation of these metallocenes with methylaluminoxane (MAO) −[O−Al(CH3)]n). Monte uses either a Monoalkoxy or Neoalkoxy Titanate in combination with Al2SIO5 mixed metal catalyst in Powder & Pellet forms for In Situ Macromolecular Repolymerization and Copolymerization in the melt – i.e. Polymer Compatibilization… AND … The Neoalkoxy Titanate proton coordinates with inorganic fillers and organic particulates to couple/compatibilize the dissimilar interfaces at the nano-atomic level thus reducing the need for expensive sorting of materials in Recycled Plastics.
Salvatore J. Monte, President of Kenrich Petrochemicals, Inc.; Bachelor Civil Engineering-Structures, Manhattan College; M.S.-Polymeric Materials, NYU Tandon School of Engineering; Member Plastics Hall of Fame 2021-the Plastics Academy; Society Plastics Engineers Fellow & Honored Service Member; Licensed P.E.; Plastics Industry Association Recycle Subcommittee-Compatibilizers; Board of Governors, Plastics Pioneers Association-MTS Newsletter Chair; 32-U.S. Patents – most recent US Patent 2020/0071230 A1 dated Mar. 5, 2020; Lectured Worldwide on Titanate & Zirconate Coupling agents; 450-American Chemical Society CAS Abstracts of published “Works by S.J. Monte”; Classified Top Secret for Solid Rocket Fuel and Energetic Composites Patents for the Insensitive Munitions Program; Lifetime member of the National Defense Industrial Association; Lifetime Member of the BOD-SPE ThermoPlastics Materials & Foams Division – Annual Scholarship named: Salvatore J. Monte Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division Scholarship; External Advisory Committee-UCF NanoScience Technology Center; former Chairman of the NYRG-ACS Rubber Division; former President of the SPE P-NJ Section; Testified several times before Congress on Trade and IP Protection; Business Man of the Year 2015-Bayonne Chamber of Commerce; Federated Society Coatings Technology C. Homer Flynn Award for Technical Excellence; Recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award; Rotary Paul Harris Fellow; UA Million Miler; Member PIA, ACMA, SPE, ACS, ACS Rubber Division, ASCE, AIChE, SAMPE, the GRAPHENE COUNCIL, the Vinyl Sustainability Council.
Composites
3D printing technologies continue to be a significant area of interest in a number of diverse industries. Standardized filaments for usage within printing devices are quite readily available, however customized application-specific filaments still remain unavailable and are typically manufactured by the end user for their explicit needs. The information provided herein is to center on utilization of a laboratory scale screw extrusion system for custom 3D Printing Filament Manufacture. Challenges addressed in the presentation include optimization of the extrusion process, creation of a masterbatch compound to allow for very small concentrations of a filler (feeding systems at this range are limited), creation of a 1.75mm strand +/- 0.05 mm (as required by common 3D Printing systems, as well as analytical evaluation of the resultant sample filament created for confirmation of target concentration (SEM, XRF, XRD, etc.).
Scott Martin is a Senior Applications Scientist within Thermo Fisher Scientific, focusing on Extrusion and Processing as well as Material Characterization. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (focus on Polymer Engineering) from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1997, and has since worked as an Applications Engineer and Scientist in the field of material science with an emphasis on rheological and process investigation and optimization. His work and skills are broad-based covering applications in polymer, pharmaceutical, medical device, industrial, and food industries.
Traditional plastic tools for thick gauge thermoforming suffer from long cycle times and short lives due to their low thermal conductivity and poor strength. In this talk, a glass-reinforced plastic tool produced by additive manufacturing and featuring a novel vent hole design is tested and evaluated. Vent holes designed to be produced via additive manufacturing were utilized to cool the tool with compressed air during sheet heating. A simple mathematical finite difference model allows estimation of the impact of changes to the vent hole size and spacing. This approach to vent hole design results in tools that achieve a competitive cycle time and survive 200 production cycles when producing parts made from 0.080” thick ABS sheets.
Ned Moore is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT. In addition to recent work in thermoforming, he has published papers on non-destructive damage detection, helicopter blade design, and legged robots. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut and received his MS and bachelor’s degrees from McGill University in Montreal. He spent five years as a design engineer for FuelCell Energy of Danbury, CT.
Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is one of the most widely used additive manufacturing (AM) processes because it uses inexpensive equipment, and it can print a wide range of polymeric materials. Moreover, FFF and its variances are gaining attraction 3D printing of metals, composites, and ceramics as well. Material properties, part design, slicing parameters, and process conditions influence the printed part quality. To achieve optimal and efficient results, the influence of each of these variables and their interrelationships need to be investigated. However, such investigations using ‘experimental trial-and-error approach’ or ‘empirical methods’ would have limited scope. Hence, computational simulations and design solutions are required to reduce the dependency on experimental methods. Hence, this paper investigates the applicability of a thermo-mechanical process simulation tool for the FFF process and the prediction of dimensional variations and residual stresses in FFF printed parts using a polymer compound. The simulation results were further corroborated by experimental printing and part evaluations. This validation enables the printing process simulation to be used as a ‘design for additive manufacturing’ tool.
Dr. Qasim Shaikh works as an Application Development Project Leader at Solvay Materials. Previously, Qasim worked as Material and Process Development Engineer at 3D Systems developing polymer additive manufacturing solutions. Qasim has also worked as CAE Engineer and Customer Technical Development Manager at BASF and Solvay helping clients design and develop their products with thermoplastic materials. Qasim has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisville focused on additive manufacturing with polymer-metal hybrid materials. His research at UofL was funded by NASA as part of an in-space manufacturing project. Additionally, Qasim works as a Committee Member for SPE's Electric and Autonomous Vehicle division.
Weld lines notoriously cause a localized reduction in mechanical properties for injection molded plastic parts. When glass fibers are added to thermoplastic resins for the purpose of increasing strength and stiffness, this effect is magnified due to a disturbance in fiber orientation and reduced polymer chain entanglement at the weld line. The addition of an offset overflow well can mitigate this strength reduction effect by reorienting the glass fibers and increasing chain entanglement. A comparison of three ASTM Type 1 Tensile Bars (one gate, two gates, and two gates + offset overflow well) is used to demonstrate the effect of the offset overflow well on the modulus of the part at the weld line location. This study demonstrates that the use of an offset overflow well can be an effective method for reducing mechanical property loss at the weld line location for glass-filled injection molded parts, which can be critical for the successful design of structural parts.
Amanda Nicholson attended the University of Akron, where she earned her degree in Chemical Engineering, with a focus on Polymer Science. Through her work at the Polymers Center of Excellence in Charlotte, NC, she taught industry professionals as well as University of North Carolina - Charlotte students the basics of injection molding processing. Certifications from the AIM Institute, Paulson and RJG prepared her to process a wide variety of experimental thermoplastic resins on a wide range of injection molding machines. Amanda’s current role is Customer Success Engineer at Moldex3D where she supports customers with their simulations and creates engaging content on LinkedIn, showing how simulation can be used to solve injection molding problems that cause recalls, production delays, and loss of profit.
Non-halogenated flame retardant polyolefin compounds have become a new trend for different markets and applications to comply with strict environmental regulations. PMC Polymer Products has developed new compounds using EVA, LLDPE or LDPE as carrier resins for transparent film applications, using an innovative and propriety non-halogenated flame retardant package. The compounds only show a minor change in the film’s transparency while meeting the UL-94 VTM-0 flame retardant standard for film applications. In addition, the compounds contain a UV stabilizing package that helps resisting UV light, demonstrated by internal QUV study data. A masterbatch approach of this technology is also under development.
An Du obtained her Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University, PA and is currently a Product Development Manager at PMC Polymer Products, focusing on developing different polymeric masterbatch and compounds for the flame retardant market as well as other applications. Before joining PMC Polymer Products, An worked at Arkema Inc. and Behr Process Corporation with various roles in R&D, technical service and business development for the coating and polymer resin markets.
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