Student guide Faculty of Engineering A.Y. 2010/11

Industrial Applications (Plastics and Rubber)
Lesson timetable, Notice board, Additional material
Syllabus
A. Structure of polymer materials
Molecular weights and their distribution.
Flexibility of the chain.
Crystallinity.
Orientation.
Modulus-temperature curves.
Thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers; elastomers.
 
B. Plastic materials
 
B1. Tests on plastics
Flow tests.
Mechanical tests.
Thermal tests.
Optical tests.
Technical bulletins.
Specifications.
B2. Principles of rheology
Definition of shear rate and shear stress.
Viscosity and its dependence on molecular and functional parameters.
Use of rheological data.
Dynamic-mechanical tests.
B3. Description of some plastic materials and processing technologies
Polyethylene film
PET bottles
Thermoformed products
 
C. Elastomers
 
C1. Selection of materials (mixes and raw materials)
Design of a mix, and formulation and  process costs.
Characteristics of raw materials and effects on the mixes.
The principal raw materials: natural rubber, synthetic rubber, silica and carbon black.
Crude and vulcanised mixes: workability tests and properties of the products.
C2. Rheology and processability
Fundamental concepts of the rheology of mixes.
Effects of molecular weights and their distribution on the industrial processing of rubber.
Filler-polymer interaction in industrial mixers.
C3. The mixing process
The principles of mixing.
Industrial mixing.
Description of mixing machines (open, closed and continuous mills).
Modern control processes.
Aspects concerning wear of materials.
C4. Forming of the mixes
The industrial extruding and drawing process.
Cold feed and hot feed extruders.
Influence of the process on the characteristics of the extruded item.
C5. Vulcanization
The vulcanization process.
Methods for measuring the process parameters.
The ingredients and their chemistry in vulcanization.
Isothermal and non-isothermal vulcanization.
Industrial vulcanization techniques.
C6. Quality aspects of mixes
Quality and uniformity of industrial mixes.
Rapid checks and stochastic inspections.
Methods for reducing irregular industrial mixes.
 
D) Thermosetting polymers
 
D1. Thermosetting materials
Polyester resins
Phenolic resins
Epoxy resins
D2. Reinforcing materials
Glass fibres
Carbon fibres
Aramid fibres
D3. Forming technologies
Compression moulding
Transfer moulding
Hand and spray moulding
Filament winding
Lamination
Pultrusion
RIM – R. RIM – S. RIM