Plastics Workshops and Seminars
Plastic Material Selection and Troubleshooting
Includes Case Studies
Dates: September 15 - 17, 2009
Fee: $1,345
Instructor: Michael Sepe
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Product designers, molders, and mold designers can benefit from this two-day seminar. Engineering and training managers can also benefit from a better appreciation of the characteristics of plastic part quality and performance. Buyers can gain an understand the importance of designer and quality specifications.
EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
This seminar organizes the crowded landscape by breaking the material selection process down to its fundamental elements. It then uses this foundation to build a systematic approach to determining cost-effective solutions that combine the material selection with processing and design considerations. Participants will be taught to distinguish streams of data from truly valuable information and will be able to ask the right questions of their suppliers in order to arrive at viable material selections. The emphasis of the seminar is on thermoplastics and the injection molding process.
WORKSHOP OUTLINE:
1. Defining the Fundamentals that Determine Plastic Properties
- Molecular weightthe foundation of polymer technology
- The relationship to viscosity
- The relationship to properties
- Methods of measurement
- New technologies that change the rules
- Methods of polymerizationaddition and condensation polymers
- Effect on properties
- Effect on processing
- Polaritywhy nylons absorb water and polyethylenes absorb gasoline
- Amorphous and semi-crystalline polymers the one thing you must know about polymer structure
- Detecting the presence of crystalline structure
- Effects on processing
- Effects on properties
- The role of polymer blends
2. Property EvaluationsShort Term
- Tensile, flexural, and compressive properties
- Impact properties various methods of measurement
- Thermal properties
- Other properties flammability, wear resistance, optical, etc.
- Why the data sheet properties do not work for material selection
- The behavior behind the numbers
- The role of material property databases and selection utilities
3. Property EvaluationsLong Term
- Effects of temperature
- Reduction in strength and stiffness at elevated temperatures
- Dimensional stability
- Structural changes due to thermal aging
- Thermal degradation and oxidation
- Loss of ductility at reduced temperatures
- Chemical resistanceeffects of temperature and time
- Creep resistance, stress relaxation, and fatigue
- Defining the mechanisms
- Data presentation
- Accelerated testing methodsadvantages and pitfalls
- The fundamental equivalence of temperature and time
- Environmental stress crack resistance
- Radiation resistanceweathering, ultraviolet, sterilization
4. Property Modifications
- Fillers and reinforcements
- Glass fibersthe long and the short of it
- Mineralstalc, mica, calcium carbonate, and the new nanocomposites
- High performance fibers
- What gets usedwhere and why
- Impact modifiers
- Colorants
- Stabilizers
- Defining application requirements
- Matching requirements to a cost-effective material family
- Design properties versus inherent properties
- Designing for manufacturingwall thickness, viscosity, and process selection
- The role of simulation
6. Selecting a Material Supplier
- Sampling versus sustained performance
- Quality systems and audits
- Technical support
- Majors versus independent compounders
- The role of distribution