MONTHLY MEETING

Abstract:

The purpose of this talk is to demonstrate the utility of fractography (i.e., the study of fracture surfaces) in failure analysis investigations. CPVC fire sprinkler pipe sections were subjected to controlled loading conditions typifying hydrostatic burst, impact loading, and environmental stress cracking (ESC) to induce cracks.  Hydrostatic burst is an overload failure mode (e.g. water hammer), which may occur during pipeline operation, while pipe crush is a failure mode that may occur during installation or maintenance of the pipeline. ESC, a time-dependent failure mode involving physical embrittlement of plastic materials, may occur when stressed pipes are exposed to certain chemicals such as solvent cements, solder fluxes, fitting lubricants, and transported fluids.  A pipe recovered from a field failure was also examined and compared to a pipe that failed under simulated service conditions involving a combination of chemical and thermal insult and hydrostatic load.  In addition, the effect of chemical concentration on ESC behavior is evaluated using common phthalate ester plasticizers, which are known ESC agents for CPVC.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Jennifer M. Hoffman is a Manager in Exponent’s Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science practice.  Her expertise includes polymer technology, mechanics of materials, and adhesion science.  She consults on issues involving application-specific selection and use of polymers based on design, manufacturability, material properties, and compatibility with end-use environment.  She assists with product development efforts related to consumer electronics, consumer products, and medical device clients and has testified in product liability cases on topics including pressure sensitive adhesives, rubber components, and thermoplastic fittings.  She regularly performs fractography, mechanical property evaluation, thermal analysis, and chemical analysis on polymeric components as part of root cause analyses.

Dr. Hoffman teaches a short course as part of ASM International’s Materials and Processes for Medical Devices Education Program.  She is also actively involved in the Society of Plastics Engineers as Secretary of the Failure Analysis and Prevention SIG and Vice President of the Golden Gate Section. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Hoffman was an engineer at Procter & Gamble, where she was involved in technology development, materials selection, and prototype characterization for cosmetics applications.
 
 

Directions to Exponent Inc.:

From the South (e.g., Sunnyvale, San Jose, Dumbarton Bridge)
101 North
Exit #406 Route 84 / Marsh Road
Proceed East
First RIGHT onto Independence Drive
Turn right at Chrysler Drive.
Chrysler Drive turns left and becomes Commonwealth Drive.
Exponent is on the left.

From the North (e.g., SFO, San Mateo Bridge)
101 South
Exit #406 Route 84 / Marsh Road
Proceed East
First RIGHT onto Independence Drive
Turn right at Chrysler Drive.
Chrysler Drive turns left and becomes Commonwealth Drive.
Exponent is on the left.
 

Dear SPE GGS Members:

Our goal of bringing you more relevant monthly events and improving our communication with you continues. We have made a big push to schedule events as far in advance as possible and think about new formats for networking and technical presentations.

And so far, I think we are on track to giving you a great line up for next year and the reminder of 2009.  By reaching out through our LinkedIn network, several potential speakers were invited to give a talk next year. And several accepted!  So, we will be able to see what kind of exciting topics we will be having for next year as soon as you read this issue of the Spearhead.

Also, we are working on starting an on-line presentation format for our local chapter.  You have already seen this though SPE National and now we want to give it a local flavor.  Look for an event in the latter half of next year, we are excited about the possibilities with this method of meetings and hope it can become a regular staple of choices you have to participate in our local section. Also, expect us to hold at least one networking and social event. Not a lunch like in years past, but a fun evening social where you can meet with colleagues new and old.  If you have any suggestions about locations or venues, you can contact Jennifer Hoffman, who is working on putting together the first one.

Speaking of Dr. Hoffman, she is our speaker for this month.  She will be giving a talk on failure analysis of PVC.  We are in for a treat as her talk received a “Best of Papers” award at ANTEC.  You can expect great technical content and relevance.  And if you are at all involved in failure analysis and fracture mechanisms, you should not miss it.

Thank you

Alfonso Lopez
SPE GGS President
alfonso.lopez@hexcel.com

The GGS would like to thank Dr. Bruce Prime for his presentation. We would also like to thank Plasma Tech Systems for hosting our event. The SPE GGS is committed to providing both members and non-members, a broader range of topics and speakers for our monthly meetings. We have organized and strengthened our position on LinkedIn, a business networking web-based forum, and organized our board to reflect our growing committment to internet based education.

Look for more diverse topics and speakers. Check the CALENDAR section of our web site for our future meetings and social events. We hope to see you at one of our monthly meetings.

Tech Tip November 2009

PART DESIGN

Design Issues continued

The boss is cracking…

This is an issue that comes up time and again and can be a multitude of issues.

In our example we had product which was produced for many years by molder number 1 and than was transferred to molder number 2. Having known molder number 1 and the OEM I was called upon to get the production up and running at molder number 2. Though there were many issues, both with the mold, machines and material selection the boss was not one of them at the time.

1 year down the road and a call comes in from the molder that the boss is cracking after about 3 days from when the insert is inserted.

In basic terms we have a creep rupture issue in that we have forced (insert pressed into boss) and time (three days to breakage). In the past there were no reported issues with the insertion of the inserts. (Strain induced load)

So what is meant by creep? It is basically the deformation of the plastics by way of load, stress, and strain on the plastic part given a period of time. If it is for a short period of time it may recover to initial shape or not, but under longer period of time the part deforms.

In the case of the boss, and insert we have 2 diameters, one the ID of the boss and the second the OD of the insert. The insert being metal is not going to deform, so the ID of the boss is the piece which deforms. A simple calculation is the circumference of the ID of the Boss and the insert OD.  Thus taking the difference of the two and dividing by the circumference of the ID of the boss well yield the % elongation applied to the boss. Looking up the data sheet on the material one can read what the elongation to yield is, and possibly even elongation to breakage. (all at 73F).

Further in molding of the boss there is usually a weld line or weak point which must be considered. The other considerations are molding conditions, within the mold and external conditions such as how the inserts are inserted.

In this particular case the machine was suspect as the mold had been moved to a new machine, and plastic conditions were not set the same. The results being that the shrinkage in the area of the boss was different, due to packing and fill rates.

In many cases no one calculates out the force or elongation in use of how the inserts are pressed in. If using a sonic welder and or heat process, the time to full insertion should be monitored. If over molding, preheating the inserts helps, but we must still be aware of packing pressures so as to minimize shrinkage and thus the strain on the part. And finally the issue of sharp corners and cleanliness of the actual inserts should be a concern.

Thanks for the time.

Steven L Silvey
Silveys Plastic Consulting
360-882-3183
silveysplastics@aol.com / silveysplastics@hotmail.com

The following are highlights from the Council meeting held in Southbury, CT on Saturday, October 24 at the Heritage Inn:

Elections
Council elected the following individuals as Society officers for the 2010-2011 term, which begins at ANTEC 2010
President-elect – Russell Broome
Senior Vice President – James Griffing
Vice President (nominated by the Divisions Committee) – Bill Arendt
In addition to these formal offices, each year Council also elects a Chair for the Council Committee of the Whole.
Dale Grove will hold this position for the 2010-2011 year.

Budget
The major Council action was the approval of the 2010 calendar-year budget. A full write-up on the budget was distributed to Councilors and to all Section and Division Board members in preparation for this meeting. The budget that was approved calls for gross income of $4,040,000, direct expenses of $3,922,114, and a net income of  $117,826. Council approved the budget unchanged from the original presentation.

Committee Meetings
Eleven committees met prior to the Council meetings.  The following Committee/Officer Reports were given at the Council meeting:

Executive Committee Report
President-elect Ken Braney gave a video presentation on the European Automotive Awards and presented a report on the planned 2010/2011 Meeting schedule.

Sections Committee Report
Councilor Ray Wyer, Chair of the Sections Committee, reported on the activities of the Committee. A representative from the Middle East Section in formation gave a brief presentation.

Section status changes:
Buffalo – Abandoned
Central Ohio – Abandoned
Kentuckiana – Abandoned
Mexico City - Abandoned
Witchita - Abandoned

Divisions Committee Report
Councilor Ashu Sharma reported on the activities of the Divisions Committee.  The Medical Polymers Europe Division-in-Formation was recognized and a presentation was given by David Howard.

Corporate Outreach Committee Report
Councilor Lance Neward, Chair of the Committee, gave an update on the committee activities.

Communications Committee Report
Councilor Jamal El-Hibri member of the Communications Committee gave a presentation on the new Communications Award.

Council Committee-of-the-Whole
Helen Basso, Chair of the Committee, conducted the meeting prior to the formal Council Meeting.  Items discussed at this meeting included TopCon seed money, need for better income streams, Council Continuous Improvement Committee report on Proxy changes, Councilor requirements and the mentor program, and an announcement regarding the Plastics Pioneers Association’s Plastics History & Artifacts Committee..

The next formal Council meeting is scheduled for May 16, 2010, in Orlando, Florida USA.
 

Respectively Submitted,
Michael LoDico
SPE GGS Councilor
mld@plasco-corp.com

Education Corner

SPE GGS SJSU Status Report

Within the past month we have held our second semester meeting. The major talking points of that meeting were tours, upcoming events, and relevant seminars. We have planned a field trip with Materials Advantage (our other Materials Engineering society), to Coherent Inc. Many members have expressed interest in conductive polymer materials; we will be investigating this to see what can be done to address this interest. There have also been questions about the departments materials processing lab (MatE 191), many students were wondering what kind of plastic processing they will be doing. I will see what funds are available to aid in new lab modules which can help with the students specific interests. There was also some talk about the roles plastics are playing in the nanotechnology arena.

Thank you,
Stefan Bringuier
President of SPE
Phone: (818)481-4398
Email: Stefanb21487@gmail.com
 

Chico News:

We are currently in the process of choosing a date for our field trip that satisfies the most members. We have 19 students signed up for the club and have submitted their applications to SPE national. Also, we are determining which one of our projects sounds like the most fun and do-able. At our meeting next week I assume we will have both of these completed and will be able to move on to working on our chosen project! If you would like to help us please e-mail me at hhoobbiiee@hotmail.com.

Take care.
Hobie Stevens, SPE President
 

San Francisco State University Chapter

Our Chapters main activity of the semester will take place this month on Nov. 2nd, as we cosponsor and co-host the 15th annual “Portfolio Night” at Jack Adam’s Hall from 5:15PM – 9:30PM. The first Portfolio Night was an informal gathering where Alumni of DAI (Design and Industry Dept.) shared their experiences after graduation, along with their portfolios with the current student body. Since then Portfolio Night has grown both in size and mission, and now includes speakers from both inside and outside the design and manufacturing industry, along with a formal student portfolio review and critique by experts in various fields.
Speakers at this year’s event will include Renee Anderson from Hot Studio, Phil Bryan from City Electric, Michael Duskus from Morning Toast, Arvind Gupt from IDEO, Katya Guseva from Big Up Magazine, George Janour from Gecko Design, Matt Petty from San Francisco Chronicle, and Charlie Sheldon from Link Studios. This event is free of charge, and we expect attendance to be approximately 300-400.

Thanks,
Michael Kim
SFSU Student Chapter President
mswkim@gmail.com
 

SPE’s Global Plastics Environmental Conference
March 8-10, 2010
The Florida Hotel and Conference Center
Orlando, Florida, USA
 
CALL FOR STUDENT POSTERS

Sustainability and Recycling: Raising the Bar in Today’s Economy
The Plastics Environmental Division is seeking high-quality, informative, exciting and timely technical posters from undergraduate and graduate students on the following topics:

Reclamation and Supply
Biobased and Biodegradable Materials
Recycling: Electronics, Marketing and Busininess, Automotive and Regulatory
Student poster abstracts are due by December 14, 2009.

Posters will be judged by jury; cash awards offered for posters of exceptional quality.To submit a student poster abstract for review, or for questions, contact:

Dick Bopp, GPEC 2010 Student Poster Session Chair
Email: Richard_C_Bopp@NatureWorksLLC.com
Phone: +1 952-742-0454

Conference Hotel:
The Florida Hotel and Conference Center
Phone: +1 800-588-4656
Society of Plastics Engineers GPEC Conference Rate: $145

For exhibits and sponsorship opportunities, contact Gwen Mathis:
Email: gwensmathis@aol.com
Phone: +1 706-238-9101

Register online at http://www.4spe.org/conferences/gpec-2010-registration

Polystyrene is a polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum. At room temperature, polystyrene is normally a solid thermoplastic, but can be melted at higher temperature for molding or extrusion, then resolidified. Styrene is an aromatic monomer, and polystyrene is an aromatic polymer.

Polystyrene was accidentally discovered in 1839 by Eduard Simon, an apothecary in Berlin, Germany. From storax, the resin of Liquidambar orientalis, he distilled an oily substance, a monomer which he named styrol. Several days later Simon found that the styrol had thickened, presumably due to oxidation, into a jelly he dubbed styrol oxide ("Stryroloxyd"). By 1845 English chemist John Blyth and German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann showed that the same transformation of styrol took place in the absence of oxygen. They called their substance metastyrol. Analysis later showed that it was chemically identical to Styroloxyd. In 1866 Marcelin Berthelot correctly identified the formation of metastyrol from styrol as a polymerization process. About 80 years went by before it was realized that heating of styrol starts a chain reaction which produces macromolecules, following the thesis of German organic chemist Hermann Staudinger (1881 - 1965). This eventually led to the substance receiving its present name, polystyrene. The I.G. Farben company began manufacturing polystyrene in Ludwigshafen, Germany, about 1931, hoping it would be a suitable replacement for die cast zinc in many applications. Success was achieved when they developed a reactor vessel that extruded polystyrene through a heated tube and cutter, producing polystyrene in pellet form.

Pure solid polystyrene is a colorless, hard plastic with limited flexibility. It can be cast into molds with fine detail. Polystyrene can be transparent or can be made to take on various colors. It is economical and is used for producing plastic model assembly kits, plastic cutlery, CD "jewel" cases, and many other objects where a fairly rigid, economical plastic of any of various colors is desired.

Standard bulk form
For architectural and engineering modelling, polystyrene is extruded into forms of standard modelling scale with the cross-sections of a miniature I-beam as well as rods and tubes. It is also formed into sheets with various patterns for this purpose as well. The blank sheets of polystyrene are referred to as "plasticard" in Britain, after the vulgarization of a trademark, but are called "sheet styrene" in the US.

Polystyrene fabricated into a sheet can be stamped (formed) into economic, disposable cups, glasses, bowls, lids, and other items, especially when high strength, durability, and heat resistance are not essential. A thin layer of transparent polystyrene is often used as an infra-red spectroscopy standard.

Solid foam
Polystyrene's most common use, however, is as expanded polystyrene (EPS). Expanded polystyrene is produced from a mixture of about 95% polystyrene and 5% gaseous blowing agent. The solid plastic is expanded into a foam through the use of heat, usually steam. Extruded polystyrene (XPS), which is different than expanded polystyrene, is commonly known by the trade name Styrofoam®. Expandable polystyrene is the lightweight material of which coffee cups and takeaway food containers are made. The voids filled with trapped air give expanded polystyrene low thermal conductivity. This makes it ideal as a construction material and it is used in structural insulated panel building systems. It is also used as insulation in building structures, as molded packing material for cushioning fragile equipment inside boxes, as packing "peanuts", as non-weight-bearing architectural structures (such as pillars), and also in crafts and model building, particularly architectural models. Foamed between two sheets of paper, it makes a more-uniform substitute for corrugated cardboard, tradenamed Fome-Cor.

Expanded polystyrene used to contain CFCs, but other, more environmentally-safe blowing agents are now used. Because it is an aromatic hydrocarbon, it burns with an orange-yellow flame, giving off soot, as opposed to non-aromatic hydrocarbon polymers such as polyethylene, which burn with a light yellow flame (often with a blue tinge) and no soot.

Production methods include sheet stamping (PS) and injection molding (both PS and HIPS).

The chemical makeup of polystyrene is a long chain hydrocarbon with every other carbon connected to a benzene ring.

A 3-D model would show that each of the chiral backbone carbons lies at the center of a tetrahedron, with its 4 bonds pointing toward the vertices. Say the -C-C- bonds are rotated so that the backbone chain lies entirely in the plane of the diagram. From this flat schematic, it isn't evident which of the phenyl (benzene) groups are angled toward us from the plane of the diagram, and which ones are angled away. The isomer where all of them are on the same side is called isotactic polystyrene, which isn't produced commercially. Ordinary atactic polystyrene has these large phenyl groups randomly distributed on both sides of the chain. This random positioning prevents the chains from ever aligning with sufficient regularity to achieve any crystallinity, so the plastic has no melting temperature, Tm. But metallocene-catalyzed polymerization can produce an ordered syndiotactic polystyrene with the phenyl groups on alternating sides. This form is highly crystalline with a Tm of 270°C.

Standard markings
The resin identification code symbol for polystyrene, developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry so that items can be labeled for easy recycling, is Image:Recycle-resin-logos-lr 06.png. Unfortunately, the majority of polystyrene products are currently not recycled due to a lack of suitable recycling facilities. Furthermore, when it is "recycled," it is not a closed loop — polystyrene cups and other packaging materials are usually recycled into fillers in other plastics, or other items that can not be themselves recycled and are thrown away.

Toughening
Pure polystyrene is brittle, but hard enough that a fairly high-performance product can be made by giving it some of the properties of a stretchier material, such as polybutadiene rubber. The two materials cannot normally be mixed due to the amplified effect of intermolecular forces on polymer solubility (see plastic recycling), but if polybutadiene is added during polymerization it can become chemically bonded to the polystyrene, forming a graft copolymer which helps to incorporate normal polybutadiene into the final mix, resulting in high-impact polystyrene or HIPS, often called "high-impact plastic" in advertisements. Common applications include use in toys and product casings. HIPS is usually injection molded in production.

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or ABS plastic is similar to HIPS: a copolymer of acrylonitrile and styrene, toughened with polybutadiene. Most electronics cases are made of this form of polystyrene, as are many sewer pipes.

Styrene can be copolymerized with other monomers; for example, divinylbenzene for cross-linking the polystyrene chains.

Cutting and shaping
Expanded polystyrene is very easily cut with a hot-wire foam cutter, which is easily made by a heated and taut length wire, usually nichrome due to nichrome's resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and its suitable electrical conductivity. The hot wire foam cutter works by heating the wire to the point where it can vaporize foam immediately adjacent to it. The foam gets vaporized before actually touching the heated wire, which yields exceptionally smooth cuts. Polystyrene, shaped and cut with hot wire foam cutters, is used in architecture models, actual signage, amusement park and movie sets, airplane construction, and much more.

Polystyrene foam can easily be cut using a hot wire that melts the foam. Such cutters may cost just a few dollars (for a completely manual cutter) to tens of thousands of dollars for large CNC machines that can be used in high-volume industrial production.

Finishing
In the United States, environmental protection regulations prohibit the use of solvents on polystyrene (which would dissolve the polystyrene and de-foam most of foams anyway).

Some acceptable finishing materials are:
Water-based paint (artists have created paintings on polystyrene with gouache)
Mortar or acrylic/cement render, often used in the building industry as a weather-hard overcoat that hides the foam completely after finishing the objects.
Cotton wool or other fabrics used in conjunction with a stapling implement

Dear SPE Leader:

Being a professional membership society, having free flowing effective communications is clearly one of the keys to our successful growth and vitality as an organization.  It is also critical to our ability to serve our membership’s needs.  The SPE Communications Committee has been working over the past two years on various ways to enhance our communications within the Society at all levels and to expand their reach to the benefit of our members and our professional community.  One of the new initiatives the Communications Committee is working on this year is the introduction of a new award named the Communications Excellence Award.  The award recognizes those Sections, Divisions and Special Interest Groups that carry out highly effective communications within their groups and, optionally, with other parts of the Society during the course of one SPE year.  Another aim behind the award is to encourage good communication practices within SPE and raise awareness about them.

Recognizing the much broader scope and complexity of communications in today’s information age, this award in a sense replaces and goes beyond the old newsletter award and it differs from that award in two important respects: 1) First, it is intended to recognize all types and forms of communications as opposed to being focused on one medium or method of communication and information delivery. 2) Secondly, unlike the newsletter award, it is not a competitive award and is rather based on meeting or exceeding certain performance standards and accomplishment thresholds.  As such, there is no limitation on the number of SPE groups that can receive this award within any particular year.

The overarching goal of any SPE communication at any level is to promote the value of SPE membership and grow SPE.

The SPE Communications Committee would like to hear your feedback, opinions, concerns or otherwise any thoughts that might allow us to make this award program more successful.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Monika Verheij
Chair, SPE Communications Committee

Learn more about the Award Purpose, Judging Body, and Criteria

Visit SPE Communications Excellence Award Page
 

SPE and ANTEC Groups Continue To Grow on LinkedIn® and Facebook®

If you're a member of LinkedIn or Facebook, join the Society of Plastics Engineers and ANTEC™ Groups and display their logos in your profile.

Process of molding thermoplastic sheet by plug assist vacuum forming

A process of molding a thermoplastic sheet for making blister packaging. The process particularly includes premolding steps of brining the sheet into close contact with the outer cylindrical surface of a molding drum, preheating the sheet and concurrently vacuum sucking the sheet into a cavity defined on the outer cylindrical surface of the drum, to partially form a pocket in the sheet, and a full-molding step of vacuum sucking the sheet and concurrently inserting the sheet into the cavity by means of a plug so that the pocket is conformed to the shape of the plug.

The following classification of injection molds is used by the Society of the Plastic Industry.

Class
Cycles
Notes

101 Mold
1 Million+
Built for extremely high production.  This is the highest priced mold and is made with only the highest quality materials.  (Full mold drawings are typical, with fully interchangeable parts.)

102 Mold
 < 1 Million
Medium to high production mold, good for abrasive materials and/or parts requiring close tolerances.  This is a high quality, fairly high priced mold.

103 Mold
 < 500,000
Medium production mold.  This is a very popular mold for low to medium production needs.  Most common price range.

104 Mold
< 100,000
Low production mold.  Used only for limited production preferable with non-abrasive materials.  Low to moderate price range.

105 Mold
< 500
Prototype only.  This mold will be constructed in the least expensive manner possible to produce a very limited quantity of prototype parts.

I Unit Insert
500,000+
Top quality materials for medium to high production requirements

II Unit Insert
< 100,000
Similar to class 104 mold.  Most commonly used insert.  Low to medium production

III Unit Insert
< 500
Similar to Class 105 Mold.  Least expensive insert for very limited quantities.  Insert build with the least expensive materials.
 

Increase your knowledge of the plastics industry and improve your job performance, all from the convenience of your home or office. Internet access/phone line required. The following WEBINARS are scheduled in November  / December 2009:

Environmental Stress Cracking and Other Solvent Effects
November 11, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm

Morphology and Properties of Exfoliated Graphene/Thermoplastic Nanocomposites
November 18, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm

Elimination of Defects From Injection-Molded Parts via Screw Modifications
December 2, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm

Review on Mechanism and Quantification of Polyethylene Discoloration
December 3, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm

Breakthrough Inventions in Polymer Extrusion Processes and the Role of Fundamental Mechanisms
December 9, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm

Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) – Low-Quantity Injection Molding for the Life-Sciences Industry
January 20, 2010
11:00am - 12:00pm

For more information and to register, please CLICK HERE

Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) Involves the injection of liquid polyurethane systems into a mold. The components then polymerize within the mold. Typically, this low temperature process typically takes less than a minute to complete, including time for mixing, curing, and demolding.

This technique is a form of liquid injection molding (LIM). When short fibers (1.6 mm), carbon or mineral fillers are incorporated into one of the liquids to increase modulus and reduce coefficient of expansion the process is referred to as reinforced reaction injection molding (RRIM). RIM resin systems include epoxy which mold over continuous strand mat and preforms as well as polyurethane/polyester hybrids, polyurea and poly(DCPD).

Raw Materials
Liquid urethane in various combinations with liquid catalyst

Tooling
Machined aluminum, cast aluminum for higher volumes and complex part geometries, reinforced non-metallic tooling for lower volumes and prototypes.

Cost
Part cost is typically higher than injection molding. Tooling cost is a fraction of injection molding tools.

Advantages
Large format parts with complex, 3-dimensional geometries possilbe. Varying wall thickness without warpage or sink marks possible with polyurethane structural foam.

Disadvantages
Slow cycles, expensive raw materials.

Applications
Automotive spoilers, interior trim panels for automobiles and trucks. Structural parts and enclosures for medical devices, electronic and industrial application.

An extruder-type screw rotates within a cylinder, which is typically driven by a hydraulic drive mechanism. Plastic material is moved through the heated cylinder via the screw flights and the material becomes fluid. The injection nozzle is blocked by the previous shot, and this action causes the screw to pump itself backward through the cylinder. (During this step, material is plasticated and accumulated for the next shot.) When the mold clamp has locked, the injection phase takes place. At this time, the screw advances, acting as a ram. Simultaneously, the non-return valve closes off the escape passages in the screw and the screw serves as a solid plunger, moving the plastic ahead into the mold. When the injection stroke and holding cycle is completed, the screw is energized to return and the non-return valve opens, allowing plastic to flow forward from the cylinder again, thus repeating the cycle.

February 9-11, 2010 Anahiem Convention Center

At WestPack 2010 You Can:

FIND new equipment, technology, and materials to lower costs, reduce waste, and increase efficiencies. You’ll see the latest in: bags, containers, contract services, custom automation equipment, machinery and machinery components, materials, packages, package design and printing, robotics, supplies, software...and more.

COMPARE suppliers to obtain better options and improved services. These suppliers are ready to help save you money right now, and offer years of experience in: food, beverage, cosmetics/personal care, industrial, pharmaceutical/nutraceutical, printing/publishing, chemical, appliances, medical devices, electronics, instruments, consumer products, automotive, toys, and textiles.

IDENTIFY new, more cost-effective process methods to help improve product and business performance margins.

VISIT five special show features: Contract Packaging and Outsourcing Services, Cosmetic and Personal Care Packaging, Green Packaging, Material Handling & Logistics, and Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Packaging.

EVALUATE additional products at these co-located events: ATX West, Electronics West, Green Manufacturing Expo, MD&M West, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, and PLASTEC West. – all under one roof!

For more information on WESTPAC 2010: CLICK HERE
 

NOVEMBER 2009

Nov. 8-13, San Jose
Annual AVS National Symposium
http://www.avssymposium.org/

Nov. 11-13, San Jose
International Conference on Nanoimprint and Nanoprint Technologies
http://www.nntconf.org/pages/index/

Nov. 11, Santa Clara
IEEE / CPMT dinner lecture
"Nanopackaging: Nanotechnologies in Microelectronics Packaging"
James E. Morris, Portland State University
http://www.cpmt.org/scv/meetings/cpmt0911.html

Nov. 17, Foster City
BAMS dinner lecture
"Mass Spectral Glycomics"
Joseph Zaia, Boston University
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=192550

Nov. 18
BioScience Forum Meeting
Dr. Hans Reiser, VP Gilead
http://www.biosf.org/programs.htm

Nov. 19, Sunnyvale
EAG Working Smarter - A Course in Analytical Techniques (Semiconductor-specific)
http://www.eaglabs.com/training/workingsmarter.php?emc=el&m=531809&l=1&v=de8278d68d

Nov. 19, Berkeley
Annual CASSS awards dinner
"Superficially Porous Particles (SPP) for HPLC Columns: Then and Now."
Joseph (Jack) Kirkland
http://www.casss.org/displayconvention.cfm?conventionnbr=7434
 

DECEMBER 2009

Dec. 1-4, San Jose
sixth annual Printed Electronics USA conference & Photovoltaics USA 2009
http://www.idtechex.com/printedelectronicsusa09/en/
 

Dec. 15, Santa Clara
IEEE CPMT lunch meeting
"Embedded Molecular Nano-Capacitor"
Ritu Shrivastava, VP Manufacturing Technology, ZettaCore Inc.
http://www.cpmt.org/scv/meetings/cpmt0912.html

100 YEARS AGO - 1909 Leo Hendrik Baekelund finds that mixtures of phenol and formaldehyde produce an extremely hard material when heated, mixed and allowed to cool. Known as phenolic or phenol-formaldehyde he calls the new material bakelite and is the first synthetic thermosetting resin.

76 YEARS AGO - 1933 Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett discover polyethylene (PE) at the British industrial giant Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Polyethylene evolves into low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE). Polyethylene is cheap, flexible, durable, and chemically resistant. LDPE is used to make films and packaging materials, including plastic bags, while HDPE is used more often to make pipe, containers, plumbing, and automotive fittings

52 YEARS AGO - 1957 George de Maestral noticed that many natural plants used tiny hooks to affix themselves to other materials. He planned to replicate this phenomena using nylon materials. Velcro was created. It was a success as it did not rot, degrade and was inexpensive to produce.

19 YEARS AGO 1990 Warner Lambert develops Novon - a starch which is also an injection mouldable plastic, ICI launches Biopol. Both are bio-degradeable plastics.

2011 - Boston, MA
2010 - Orlando, FL

Roy J. Plunkett (June 26, 1910 - May 12, 1994) was the chemist who accidentally invented Teflon in 1938.

Plunkett was born in New Carlisle, Ohio and attended Manchester College (BA chemistry 1932) and Ohio State University (Ph.D. chemistry 1936). In 1936 he was hired as a research chemist by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company at their Jackson Laboratory in Deepwater, New Jersey. On April 6, 1938 Plunkett checked a frozen, compressed 100 pound (45 kg) container of tetrafluoroethylene, used in chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant production. When he opened the container to remove an amount for chlorination (using hydrochloric acid), Plunkett discovered that nothing came out. When he checked to see why, he discovered that a white powder had formed which did not adhere to the container. The tetrafluoroethylene in the container had polymerized into polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), a waxy solid with amazing properties such as resistance to corrosion, low surface friction, and high heat resistance.

He was the chief chemist involved in the production of the gasoline additive Tetra-ethyl lead at DuPont's Chambers Works from 1939 to 1952. After that he directed Freon® production at DuPont before retiring in 1975. He was inducted to the Plastics Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1985. Plunkett died on May 12, 1994 at the age of 84.

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