Polymer Engineering and Science articles from November 2006

Polymer Engineering and Science archives from November 2006

Effect of organoclay content on the rheology, morphology, and physical properties of polyolefin elastomers and their blends with polypropylene.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Blending of polypropylene with elastomers has become common practice, yielding compounds with diverse properties, ranging from rigid to soft, depending on the PP/elastomer ratio. The most commonly used elastomers in the...

Thermomechanical and morphological properties of epoxy resins modified with functionalized hyperbranched polyester.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Hyperbranched polymers [1, 2] are a new class of polymeric materials characterized by a globular molecular shape that resembles a sphere. Their perfect counterparts are the dendrimers. Hyperbranched polymers and dendrimers can...

Mechanical properties and volume dilatation of HDPE/CaC[O.sub.3] blends with and without impact modifier.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Adding inorganic particles to polymers is an efficient and cheap method to enhance their mechanical properties and make them suitable for engineering applications as structural materials [1]. For this reason, particle-filled...

All-polymer composites from recycled woven polypropylene fabrics and polyethylene film.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION The use of woven fabrics of oriented polypropylene tape has increased considerably in recent years, for applications such as sacks for the bulk transport of agricultural and constructional materials, packaging tape, and ground...

Crosslinking of ethylene-octene copolymers under dynamic conditions: a new way to access polymeric hyperbranched structure.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION A molten polymer undergoing a chemical crosslinking process is converted from a viscoelastic liquid into a viscoelastic solid. Changes in properties are more marked near the liquid--gel transition [1]. Generally, chemical...

Rapid production of micropatterned surfaces using a fluid dynamical instability.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Development and improvement of polymer surfaces with controlled or low adhesion properties have resulted in a vast number of commodity products in the last few decades. The application of low adhesion surfaces or release...

Preparation of microencapsulated red phosphorus through melamine cyanurate self-assembly and its performance in flame retardant polyamide 6.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION With the development of halogen-free flame retardants worldwide in recent years, red phosphorus (RP) has been widely applied in many flame retarded polymers. As an important phosphorus flame retardant, it shows some distinct...

A new hybrid approach using the explicit dynamic finite element method and thermodynamic law for the analysis of the thermoforming and blow molding processes for polymer materials.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION In the finite element codes used to handle the thermoforming and blowing of the thermoplastic material, the loads are in general defined in terms of pressure. For such loadings, quasi-static problems are largely discussed in...

An approach to model the melt displacement and temperature profiles during the laser through-transmission welding of thermoplastics.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Over the past few years, laser through-transmission welding of thermoplastics has become established as a new joining technique in plastics technology which selectively exploits the advantages selectively over conventional...

Thermomechanical properties of epoxy/poly([epsilon]-caprolactone) blends.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Epoxy resins are widely used due to their thermal, mechanical, and corrosion resistance properties. They find a wide range of applications, including potting, encapsulation, tooling, adhesives, composites, etc. However, one...

Morphology and melt crystallization of poly(L-lactide) obtained by ring opening polymerization of L-lactide with zinc catalyst.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Degradable polymers have been attracting much attention for potential biomedical and environmental applications. As a typical degradable polyester, polylactide (PLA) can be used to fabricate various osteosynthetic devices,...

Visualization analysis of the filling behavior of melt into microscale V-grooves during the filling stage of injection molding.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Injection molding is widely used in the mass production of products with microstructures. In this field, the main problem is the improvement of replication fidelity at minimum cost. The most effective method of improving the...

Mechanical properties of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene injection molded with a rotation mold.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Injection molded glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics composites are extensively used because they not only supply superior mechanical properties, but they can also be easily produced by low-cost and high throughput processes...

Prediction of polymer pellet conveying behavior in microinjection molding machine.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Microinjection molding has been considered as one of the most cost effective ways for producing micro plastic product on a massive scale [1-6]. Investigations on the microinjection molding process have up to now been mainly on...

In-line near infrared monitoring of esterification of a molten ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer in a twin screw extruder.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Spectroscopic techniques have the potential to meet the demand from the industry for rapid, reliable, and noninvasive analytical methods for process control. Their implementation to obtain real-time information has been...

On surface deformation of melt-intercalated polyethylene-clay nanocomposites during scratching.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION In the last decade, polymer nanocomposites have received significant attention, both in the industry and in the academia. A number of experimental investigations have indicated that polymer nanocomposites exhibit new and...

Film extrusion of sunflower protein isolate.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Nowadays, there has been a rise in the market of biodegradable polymers. The major reasons of this development are the environmental consequences of the intensive use of synthetic plastics, the oil price increase, and the new...

Kinetics of the free-radical copolymerization of isobornyl methacrylate and diethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the entire composition range.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION A large number of mechanistic kinetic models with different degrees of complexity have been reported in the literature to describe free-radical crosslinking polymerizations. Several significant factors affecting the reaction...

Investigation of rubber-rubber blends miscibility.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION Blending or mixing of elastomers is carried out for three main reasons: improvement of the technical properties of the original elastomer, achievement of better processing behavior, and lowering of compound cost. All...

Simulation of compositional profile in functionally graded materials.
November 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION The functionally graded materials (FGMs) are defined as special materials gradually changing their composition in a particular direction, for example, thickness, and provide smooth transition in electrical or thermal stresses...