Polymer Engineering and Science articles from May 2006

Polymer Engineering and Science archives from May 2006

Adaptive online quality control for injection-molding by monitoring and controlling mold separation.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Injection molding is a widely used manufacturing process for the mass production of discrete plastic parts of complex shape to the highest precision at the lowest cost. During the process, the polymer melt flows rapidly...

Modification of bisphenol A dicyanate ester by carboxyl-terminated liquid butadiene-acrylonitrile and its composites.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Cyanate ester (CE) resins are one of the most important kinds of thermosets and have received more and more attentions for their superior mechanical properties, low water absorptivity, low outgassing in curing, high...

Aqueous polyurethane dispersions derived from polycarbonatediols and di(4-isocyanatocyclohexyl)methane.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Aqueous polyurethane dispersions are expanding their applications in coatings, adhesives, paper sizings, etc. because of the trend of the environmental regulations to decrease the level of solvent emissions [1-3]. The...

Thermoplastic vulcanizates based on maleated natural rubber/polypropylene blends: effect of blend ratios on rheological, mechanical, and morphological properties.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) based on polyolefin rubber-thermoplastic compositions have developed along two distinctly different classes. One class consists of a simple blend and classically meets the definition of a...

Effects of slip agent and talc surface-treatment on the scratch behavior of thermoplastic olefins.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Improving the mechanical performance of polymeric materials, such as elastic modulus, yield stress, and fracture toughness, often presents a challenge. To overcome these challenges, the introduction of fillers to polymeric...

Studies on melt spinning process of hollow polyethylene terephthalate fibers.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION The new fibers [1] have surpassing natural look, soft hand, enhanced outer appearance, and special end uses when compared with the conventional synthetic fibers. And so, these new fibers possess very wide applicability for...

Modification of polyurethane by superfine protein powder.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Superfine powder is defined as all of the powder smaller than 30 [micro]m in diameter. It can be divided into three grades: micrometer powder (particle diameter is bigger than 1 [micro]m), sub-micrometer powder (particle...

Transition diagrams for a liquid crystalline thermoset containing a rigid-rod epoxy.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Liquid crystalline thermosets (LCTs) offer characteristic properties for various applications, such as matrices for high performance composites as well as electronic packaging and nonlinear optics. As more and more interest is...

Relaxation phenomenon in epoxy glass aged under post-yield strain.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Epoxy glass is widely used as structural materials such as adhesive or as matrix substance of fiber-reinforced plastics. Epoxy glass is often subjected to inelastic deformation as in the case where the surface plates are...

Effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes dispersity on the light transmittancy of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/epoxy composites.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Optical composites are widely used as packing materials for optoelectronic devices because they combine the properties of low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and high light transmittance [1-3]. Epoxy resin is commonly...

Solubilities of sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide in polyester resins.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Polyester resins in powder form are frequently used in paint and toner industry. Milling, grinding, and spray drying are the particle formation processes commonly used in the industry. Narrow particle size distribution,...

Rheological behavior of starch-polycaprolactone (PCL) nanocomposite melts synthesized by reactive extrusion.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION North-American biodegradable plastic market in 2005 is estimated to be around 60 million lbs out of which starch-based polymer blends was expected to account for 30 million lbs [1]. Most applications of starch-based plastics...

Strain and strain-rate formulation for flow-induced crystallization.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION The study of polymer crystallization, especially the impact of flow on crystallization and the impact of crystallization on flow, is of great practical interest. Much work on the subject has been done by previous researchers...

Structure and properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes/cyanate ester composites.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Since the first observation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in 1991 by Iijima [1] and the awareness of their novel mechanical and electrical properties [2-6], extensive researches about CNT/polymer nanocomposites have been done....

Bubble coalescence in foaming process of polymers.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Physical foaming with C[O.sub.2] has been attracting industrial attentions since the invention of microcellular plastics [1-3]. The process consists of four steps: (1) dissolution of physical foaming agent into polymer matrix...

Effect of mixing protocol on compatibilized polymer blend morphology.
May 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Melt blending of homopolymers is a common method used in polymer processing to create materials that have better performance than that found using simple mixing rules. Most polymer blends are immiscible, and the properties are...