MONTHLY MEETING

The October SPE GGS event will be a new format for our Networking Luncheons. We will have lunch at a local innovative company and hear a presentation. This month is WaveZero. WaveZero is a leader in innovative, environmentally friendly EMC shielding solutions. WaveZero was incorporated in 2000 as "Shielding for Electronics, Inc." a privately held company. During the last three years, WaveZero developed a broad portfolio of design and process patents while establishing a nationwide sales organization. In 2003, the company was renamed WaveZero. In 2004, WaveZero acquired Deep Coat Manufacturing (Sugar Grove, IL), which provides their WaveZero DeepCoat vacuum metallization services, along with their facility in Shanghai. In 2004, WaveZero, Inc. became a division of Block Shield, LLC, publicly traded on the London AIM as BLS. WaveZero provides solutions to the medical electronics, consumer electronics and other industries.
 
 

Thursday October 16, 2008	Topic: Welcome to WaveZero	WaveZero Inc. 818 Kifer Rd. Sunnyvale, CA 94086  (408) 830-5100
Time:	11:30 AM to 1:30 PM	You must RSVP prior to noon on October 13, 2008
Cost:	FREE WITH YOUR RSVP	LIMIT: 15 PEOPLE !! RSVP NOW
Contact:	Alfonso Lopez 925-551-4900	RSVP to  alfonso.lopez@hexcel.com

Luncheon Presentation Includes:

Presentation on the use of vacuum metallized plastics to create custom electromagnetic interference shielding solutions

Presentation on the use of web coaters/vacuum metallizers to create Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) antennae and inlays

Demonstration of the WaveZero web coater in operation manufacturing RFID antennae
 

Directions:

From San Francisco Airport
Take 101 South Toward SAN JOSE to LAWRENCE EXPRESSWAY (~25 miles)
Right onto N LAWRENCE EXPRESSWAY
Right on KIFER ROAD for (~1 mile)
(Pass National Semiconductor campus)
WaveZero is on the Left Before WOLFE ROAD
End at 818 KIFER ROAD

From San Jose Airport
Take 101 North Toward SAN FRANCISCO to N LAWRENCE EXPRESSWAY Exit
Left onto N LAWRENCE EXPRESSWAY
Right onto KIFER ROAD
(Pass National Semiconductor campus)
WaveZero is on the Left Before WOLFE ROAD
End at 818 KIFER ROAD

Thank you to all the members that attend the 2008 Technical Fair “Opportunities for Green in a Polymer World.”

Because of you, we had a successful event that brought up considerable discussion in the field of biopolymers and the future use of these materials and what it means for consumers, processors and designers.  Also, I would like to thank our company sponsors that supported the Tech Fair and Education Night this year:

RBK, Delta Pacific, Master Plastics, Jatco, and Bay Polymers'

whose support directly benefits our Northern California SPE student chapters and schools, CA state University at Chico, San Jose State University and San Francisco State University.

Also, a special thanks to Flextronics for hosting the Technical Fair in their audio visual conference room.  Look for a speaker event next year to feature the VP of Corporate Technology at Flextronics, Dr. Srinivas Rao, who gave an excellent introduction of Flextronics and set a high standard for what it will mean to be “green” now and in the future and how design plays a critical roll in that endeavor.

Finally, congratulations to Michael Rincon, a senior student at Cal State at Chico. He is the recipient of the 2008 Low Temesvary scholarship.

Best Regards,
Alfonso Lopez
SPE GGS President
alfonso.lopez@hexcel.com

The GGS would like to thank those members and non-members who attended our GGS Tech Fair and Education Night. Over 40 people attended the Tech Fair and about 25 attended our Education Night Dinner. Special thanks to Prof. Joe Greene, Dr. Brian Ralston, and Neil Muchin for their presentations. The board would also like to thank Eric Appelblom and Mikki Larner for their efforts! Our annual Education Night dinner presenters: SJSU, CSU Chico, and SFSU did another excellent job! Special thanks to CSU Chico student Michael Rincon for being awarded this years Lou Temesvary scholarship.

DATA DOWNLOAD:
YOUR GOLDEN GATE SECTION IS PLEASED TO OFFER THE FOLLOWING TECH FAIR 2008 PRESENTATIONS.

CEREPLAST -BIOPOLYMERS [PDF] [2MB]

EXPONENT INC. -BIOPLASTICS [PDF] [3MB]

CSU-CHICO -BIOPOLYMERS [PDF] [3MB]

Next month your GGS will continue to offer a networking luncheon and a company overview theme. Next up is Protopulsion in San Carlos. Protopulsion is a rapid prototyping and product development company that uses 3D plastic printers to build rapid prototype plastic parts for customers.

Tech Tip October 2008

PART DESIGN

Part design continued.

In the continuation of part design the 4th eliminate to be discussed is draft. Draft is the angle of the side wall and or product that allows it to have taper. In some cases no draft is allowed on a part, this should be a red flag or caution to the molder / processor and also for the tool maker if they are in contact with the molder / processor.

Draft is usually called out by the material supplier on the design protocol for the material in question. The big rule of thumb is that a minimum draft is ½ degree per inch and a standard would be 1 degree per inch.

Should texture be on the part/mold for appearance sake than for every 0.001” of texture depth in the part we need 1 degree of draft per inch. For example if our depth of texture is 0.003” than 3 degrees plus our original ½ to 1 degree for a total of 3.5 to 4 degree of draft. Note that in some literature there is a disregarding for our original draft, using practical experience is best for making this decision.

IF IN DESIGNING THE TOOL /PART IT IS TO BE A POLISHED SURFACE BUT IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND IT MAY NEED TO BE TEXTURED FOR A COSMETIC REASON CONSIDER DRAFT NOW TO THE WORST CASE SCENARIO!!!

The reason for the above statement is that in black parts especially a blush or scuff is present or fingerprints on the finished part, adding texture hides this, but if the tool has minimal to no draft to start with adding texture without the draft necessary for the said texture will cause many more issues in the part. The number one is how we get it out with out scuffing! The number two is the cost of mold modifications and or cycle times when our wall thickness exceeds our nominal.

Understand that draft is given in degree per inch so that as the part gets longer in the direction of ejection the difference between beginning of ejection and end of ejection there is a size difference. Further when looking at the sketch above it should be noted that as the mold opens and or part is ejected and moves only a few thousands than the surface contact is eliminated the part can move freely. The greater the draft the less movement needed before no contact, also the less force is necessary to eject the part in most cases.

Thanks for the time, and as always any questions and or comments please contact me.

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

This summary is intended to help you review the highlights of the Council Meetings held in Milwaukee on May 4, 2008.

ANTEC

Attendance in Milwaukee of the combined Plastics Encounter/ANTEC reached 2679.  A total of 135 registrants attended 14 Society seminars.
Incoming President William O’Connell’s SPE mantra is: “Make it Happen.”

Highlights From the Council Floor
In Memorial
Council observed a moment of silence in honor of SPE Past President George P. Schmitt.

Executive Director Report & Staff Update
SPE staff continues to work through a host of new projects and initiatives to keep SPE current and competitive in the information marketplace.

Some highlights from the report are:

• An agreement with Wiley Publishing for Plastics Engineering magazine has been concluded.  Ad sales to date have been robust and are tracking well to budget, thanks to the efforts of Maria Russo, Ruth Carpenter and their team.
• SPE and SPI are still in final negotiations on a written contract for holding ANTEC @ NPE 2009, but these are very near conclusion, with no major outstanding issues.
• Membership continues to be the primary concern of SPE as we enter a real slowdown in economic activity in the U.S.
• Conferencing continues to move along at pace.
• SPE’s seminar program has fared a little worse than conferencing.  Seminars are more time intensive and expensive than conference attendance, and we are seeing a general slowdown in seminar attendance in the first half of this year.
• SPE is continuing with a full re-design project for the SPE website, which is nearing completion.

Financial Update
Treasurer Ken Braney provided an update summarizing the 2007 year-end audit as well as results so far for 2008. On the positive side, ANTEC has already met budgeted income expectation.

Overall there are material increases in revenues for advertising, online presentations and seminars.  Membership revenues are down slightly compared to the same period last year.  On balance, the trends to date have been better than expected given the current economic climate.

It is still too early in the year to tell precisely what the overall down economy and other factors will mean for SPE’s finances, but to date, the indicators are optimistic that SPE will fare better than last year.

SPE Foundation Update
Gail Bristol reported on the financial health of the SPE Foundation. The SPE Foundation awarded $120,000 in scholarships to 32 students in 2007.  The Foundation expects to exceed that amount in 2008.  New scholarships for the coming year include the Western Plastics Pioneers scholarship, which will be available to students attending school in Arizona, California, Oregon or Washington state, and the Detroit Section Legacy Scholarship, which will be a general scholarship within the Foundation.

The Thermoset Division, which already had a memorial scholarship, has added a second scholarship in honor of Jim Cunningham (a former Councilor for Piedmont Coastal).  Both Thermoset Division scholarships are in the amount of $1,500 each.  The Thermoplastic Materials and Foams Division has chosen to increase the amount of their scholarship to $2,500 this year.

Plans for the merger of The SPE Foundation and SPE continue on schedule.  At their ANTEC meeting, the Foundation Executive Committee reviewed and approved an Asset Transfer Agreement, which outlines the terms and conditions related to the transfer and delivery to SPE of the Foundation’s assets, properties, rights, contracts and claims, and SPE’s acceptance of those obligations.  The SPE Executive Committee will review this document at their June meeting.

Bylaws & Policies
• There were three first readings of Bylaw Amendments:
o Bylaw 7.4.3 – enabling the election of SPE Officers at a meeting other than the first meeting of a calendar year
o Bylaw 14.7.11 – to include the structure of The SPE Foundation in the SPE bylaws
o Bylaw 17.6 – procedures for temporarily suspending a bylaw
• Four Bylaw Amendments were approved by Council:
o 7.3.4, 14.7.4, 14.7.5 and 14.7.6 – all related to the removal of the SPE International Committee as a standing committee of SPE
• Policy 014 regarding the process of establishing a Division of SPE was approved.

Student Chapters
A Student Chapter was established at the University of Michigan – Dearborn.

Awards & Recognitions
In addition to the recognition of the retiring administration, the Michael Cappelletti Excellence Award was given to Barbara Arnold-Feret. The James Toner Service Excellence Award was awarded to Alva Whitney and SPE staff member Marie Salzo.

European staff member Yetty Pauwels, who is retiring at the end of the year, was also recognized with a plaque for her dedicated service.

Outgoing President Vicki Flaris thanked her Executive Committee for their hard work.
Incoming President William O’Connell introduced his Executive Committee.  New Executive Committee Vice Presidents are:  Brian Grady from the University of Oklahoma, Austin Reid from DuPont, Jon Ratzlaff from Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Scott Owens, from Chemtrusion.  James Griffing is the 2008-2009 Secretary and Barbara Arnold-Feret is the 2008-2009 Treasurer.

Contributions, Donations and Presentations

It is with grateful appreciation that the Society acknowledges the following contributions and donations by its Sections, Divisions and members:

• Ken Kerouac, Mid-Michigan Section, presented $500 to the Foundation for the Robert Cramer Scholarship.

• Tom Powers, Detroit Section, presented $4,500 to support the Wonders of Plastics Essay Contest and the SPE Education Award.

• Jim Hayes, Kansas City Section, presented $500 from Hayes Tooling and Plastics, Inc., to the Outstanding Student Chapter Award Fund and $500 to the Student Activities Fund.

• Scott Peters, Mold Making and Mold Design, presented $4,000 toward the Student Activity Fund.

• Nippani Rao, Automotive Division, presented $500 to support the Outstanding Student Chapter Award.

• Amod Ogale, Electrical & Electronic Division, presented two rebate checks totaling $900 to the Society.

• Barbara Arnold-Feret presented $200 to the SPE Foundation in honor of her parents.

Margie Weiner of the Plastics Museum made a presentation on the PlastiVan program.
 

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING

The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for October 18, 2008, in Southbury, Connecticut.
 

Respectively Submitted,
Brian Scappaticci
GGS Councilor
brian@sse-web.com

A Word from Our Education Chairman

We had several excellent presentations at the Education Night dinner program on Friday September 26, 2008. We had about 20 people come to the dinner. Two students from San Jose State, one from Chico State and one from San Francisco State gave excellent presentations.

The first speaker, Ehson Ghandehari (SJSU), talked about materials research with silicone polymers and the relationship with silicon dioxide.

The second speaker Christian Espinoza-Santos (SJSU), talked about building a composite materials database based on his research at San Jose.

The third speaker, Mike Rincone from Chico, talked about SPE activities at Chico State and the tooling projects that the students are involved in.

The fourth speaker, Michael Kim (SFSU), talked about the new plastics injection molding machine and projects that design students are working on at San Francisco State.

SPE GGS President Alfonso Lopez presented each of the student chapters a check for $1,000 to support the SPE clubs at each school. Alfonso also announced that Mr. Mike Rincone from Chico State received the Lou Temesvary award with a scholarship of $750. Chico State plastics program also received $250 from the Temesvary scholarship.

Sincerely,
Joe Greene
jpgreene@csuchico.edu

Reminder: October 20, 2008, is the deadline for applications for the Honored Service Member and Fellow-of-the-Society member grades. It takes time to complete the application and gather background materials and sponsor letters, so don’t delay – start applications for members of your Section or Division today!

For more information on Honored Service Membership, please go to: http://www.4spe.org/awards/honored.php

For more information on Fellow-of-the-Society membership, please go to: http://www.4spe.org/awards/fellow.php

ANTEC™ 2009 will be held Monday through Wednesday, June 22-24, at McCormick Place West in Chicago. Morning sessions will be conducted from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon; afternoon sessions will be conducted from 1:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

SPE received 770 abstracts (up 15% from last year), and logged another 100+ submission inquiries after the deadline passed. Manuscripts are due November 14, and the submission website is open for business! You can still submit a paper even if you didn’t submit an abstract.

To learn more, go to: http://www.4spe.org/conf/antec09/09callforpapers.php

Questions? Contact ANTEC Technical Program Coordinator, Peter Boergermann at pboergermann@4spe.org or at 203-740-5472.

SPE invites you to present a paper at its inaugural EUROTEC technical conference on September 29-October 3 at the Hotel New York Convention Center in Marne-la-Vallée, France (near Paris). This event is designed to attract several hundred global participants. Topics to be addressed include Automotive/Transportation, Extrusion/Flexible & Rigid Packaging, Medical Plastics, Plastics Environmental, Engineering Properties and Structure, Failure Analysis, and Mold Design and Rapid Tooling. Submit your abstract by December 15.

For more info go to: http://www.4spe.org/conf/euro09/

Questions? Contact Lesley Kyle at lskyle@4spe.org or by phone: 203-740-5452.

The incorporation of additional ingredients needed for processing in order to have optimal properties. These ingredients may include Additives to improve a polymer's physical properties, stability or processability. Compounding is usually required for recycled materials for the following reasons:

Recycled materials are typically ground from parts that produce flakes. The compounding (palletizing) process turns them into pellets that can be more easily handled by traditional plastics processing equipment.

It allows Additives to be compounded into the recycled material to meet target application requirements.

It allows virgin materials to be mixed with recycled materials to meet material specifications for performance and recycled material content targets.

It provides a very important homogenization step. Recycled materials are usually a mix of many different grades of the same basic material. Even though the materials might be from the same family, differences in molecular weight, copolymer ratios, etc. can lead to a mixed material having poor homogeneity. The intensive physical mixing in a molten polymer that is achieved during extrusion can homogenize different grades of materials and even some types and amounts of foreign material that might not have been removed during the recycling process.

(Adapted from Modern Plastics Encyclopedia 1995).

Each year, the Mold Making and Mold Design Division of SPE looks for award recipients for two awards: Mold Maker of the Year and Mold Designer of the Year. The awards are sponsored by DME and Progressive Components respectively. Recipients are awarded $500.00, which will be donated on their behalf to a technical school of their choice. The following information briefly outlines some criteria for nomination:

Is or was a Mold Maker/Mold Designer
Has made a contribution to the industry or society
Has strong technical experience
Has a reputation for conducting business in a fair and honest manner
Does not have to be an active member of SPE
To enter a candidate for either nomination, please submit his/her name to Ed Jenko at ejenko@husky.ca . You will be requested to follow up with a biographical sketch, outlining the individual’s experiences and credentials. The Division Board will select the award recipients based on the merits of the candidates.

Give someone you know the recognition he or she deserves - nominate a candidate today!

An important parameter for polyethylene, affecting most end product physical properties like stiffness, impact strength and optical properties. The density is normally given in g/cm3, although the correct SI unit would be kg/m3. Two basic measuring methods are used: (a) Density gradient column is the basic method for density measurement. In it a density gradient is prepared by mixing two liquids of different densities so that density increases uniformly from top to bottom. Small test pieces are immersed into this density gradient, and the density of the polymer is determined based on the equilibrium position of the pieces and calibration floats. (b) Pyknometer measurements rely on calibrated volumes and the density difference to a reference fluid; compression-moulded samples are normally used here.

Thursday, Oct. 30
Registration deadline 5 pm, Wednesday, Oct. 29
Michael's Restaurant at Shoreline Park, Mountain View

Timing: 6:00 PM  social hour, 7:00 PM  dinner, 8:00 PM  presentation  begins
Cost: $30 with advance registration. Half price for students, retired, and unemployed. (late fee still applies, if applicable)
Free if you attend just the lectures at 8:00 PM. (but please let us know for headcount) $40 after registration deadline.

"Polymer Matrices for Glucose Sensing Technology"
Dr. Balu Bommakanti, Abbott Diabetes Care

Abstract:

Glucose sensing systems have become ubiquitous in the control and treatment of blood sugar in diabetes patients. The very successful FreeStyle Navigator® continuous blood glucose monitor is an electrochemical device that provides a “Molecular Wire” from the electrode to the enzyme catalyst. The wiring is accomplished by means of electron transfer between redox centers such as Osmium ions.  The redox centers are often tethered by a polymer matrix such as polyvinyl pyridine. The design, synthesis and operation of these polymer-metal complex systems will be described and the charge and molecular transport requirements will be discussed. Further elaborations of polymer structures will be discussed such as PVP-co-Styrene polymer modified with PEG and sulfonation to form an outer membrane layer.

Speaker Background:

Dr. Bommakanti is Principal Scientist at Abbott Diabetes Care in Alameda, CA where he has been since 2001.  He obtained his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India and followed that with Post-doctoral fellowships at Dow Chemical and the University of Michigan..  After a two year stint as an Assistant Professor at Ferris University he moved to American Home Products prior to joining Abbott.  His interests include:
•  Polymer matrices for glucose sensing technology.
•  Bioabsorbable polymers for surgical sutures and implantable medical device applications.
•  Polyethylene glycol based polymers for control drug delivery applications.
•  Degradation and stabilization of vinylidene chloride copolymers.
•  Polymer supported organoplatinum anti-tumor agents.
•  Synthesis and characterization of liquid crystalline polymers.
•  Characterization of inorganic, organic and polymeric materials using various scientific techniques.
 

Please register on the web page: http://www.GGPF.org

Or, if necessary, contact: Len Radzilowski at 650-361-3264 or lradzilo@tycoelectronics.com

In DSC the sample and a reference material are heated and cooled in a defined manner. DSC provides a rapid method for the determination of the temperature profile of a polymeric material. This includes e.g. measurement of heat capacity, specific heat, melting, crystallisation and glass transition temperatures, heat (enthalpy) of fusion, crystallization, study of thermal stability or reaction kinetics and in certain cases identification of the polymer or polymer mixture.

Congratulations are extended to the 33 young men and women who are receiving scholarships from The SPE Foundation this year. Students from 25 different schools were awarded from $1,000 to $8,000 this year to help them finance their educational careers. These students not only have good grades, but are also active in their schools and their communities, and most have held internships or co-ops that will help them find their “niche” in the plastics industry.

Here is the entire listing: http://www.4spe.org/bulletin/0809len_schlolasrships.pdf

SPE will host its first extended online event in March 2009. Comprised of a series of live and previously recorded e-Live® webinars on a single topic, this two-day event will also allow attendees access to an archive of past presentations and white papers. A virtual exhibit hall and lounge will foster networking in addition to providing exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Reagan at ereagan@4spe.org or 203-253-1368.

OCTOBER 2008

Oct. 1, Sunnyvale
IMAPS lunch meeting
"Inkjet Printing for MEMS Fabrication"
Prof. Joel Kubby, UC Santa Cruz
For reservations, contact  Gina Love at glove@cctlaser.com.

Oct. 3-4, Stanford
23rd Annual William S. Johnson Symposium on Organic Chemistry topics
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/chemistry/events/conf/wsjohnson/index.html

Oct. 8, Palo Alto
Silicon Valley Photovoltaics Society (SVPVS)
"High-Efficiency CIGS Thin-Film Solar Cells: Highlights And Challenges"
Rommel Noufi, V.P. Research, SoloPower Inc.
http://www.parc.com/events/default.php

Oct. 9, Mountain View
BAMS dinner lecture
"Photons and Electrons as Alternatives to Collisions for Obtaining Chemical Structure Information Using MS/MS"
Prof. Gary Glish, U. of North Carolina & President, ASMS
http://www.bams.org/

Oct. 9, Foster City
CACO-BAPK/PD Joint Workshop:
"Introductory Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics"
http://www.caco-ca.org

Oct. 10-14, Asilomar (Pacific Grove)
American Society for Mass Spectrometry Asilomar Conference
"New Methods, Instrumentation, and Applications of Ion Traps"
http://www.asms.org/Default.aspx?tabid=64

Oct. 12 - 16, San Francisco
CE Pharm 2008:  10th Symposium on the Practical Applications for the Analysis of Proteins, Nucleotides and Small Molecules
A CASS meeting
http://www.casss.org/displayconvention.cfm?conventionnbr=5416

Oct. 13 - 15, Burlingame
Texture Technologies local training courses
http://www.texturetechnologies.com/Training_Courses.html

Oct. 13-16, San Jose
International Wafer-Level Packaging Conference
http://www.iwlpc.com/

Oct. 16, Redwood City
ACS SCV dinner lecture
"Chemistry of Dental Tissue Regeneration"
Stephen Habelitz, UCSF
http://www.scvacs.org/newsletter/news0809hi.pdf

Oct. 22, Burlingame
CASSS discussion group meeting
"Electrostatic Repulsion-Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography"
http://www.casss.org/displayconvention.cfm?conventionnbr=5745

Oct. 27-30, Burlingame
"Nano-Bio Cleantech 2008"
http://www.ianano.org/
 

NOVEMBER 2008

Nov. 6-7, San Francisco
American Society for Mass Spectrometry 2008 Fall Workshop
"Protein-Protein and Protein-Ligand Interactions"
http://www.asms.org/Default.aspx?tabid=58

Nov. 10-14, La Jolla
"Organic Electronics Week", three back-to-back meetings
10th Annual OLEDS World Summit, Nov. 10-12
Thin-Film Transistors Summit, morning, November 13
Flexible Displays and Electronics,  Nov. 13-14
http://www.organicelectronicsweek.com/

A size-reduction process used for production scrap, post-consumer plastic packaging, industrial parts, or other materials that must be downsized for further processing. Granulators consist of a feed hopper, cutting chamber, classifying screen, and rotating knives that work in concert with stationary-bed knives to reduce the plastic scrap until it is small enough to pass through the classifying screen. The resulting particles, called regrind, can vary in size from 3 mm to 20 mm. (Modern Plastics Encyclopedia 1995).

2011 - Boston, MA
2010 - Orlando, FL
2009 - San Antonio, TX

1. Scope

1.1 These test methods cover the determination of the resistance of plastics to "standardized" (see Note 0) pendulum-type hammers, mounted in "standardized" machines, in breaking standard specimens with one pendulum swing (see Note 0). The standard tests for these test methods require specimens made with a milled notch (see Note 0). In Test Methods A, C, and D, the notch produces a stress concentration that increases the probability of a brittle, rather than a ductile, fracture. In Test Method E, the impact resistance is obtained by reversing the notched specimen 180 in the clamping vise. The results of all test methods are reported in terms of energy absorbed per unit of specimen width or per unit of cross-sectional area under the notch. (See Note 0.)

Note 0
The machines with their pendulum-type hammers have been "standardized" in that they must comply with certain requirements, including a fixed height of hammer fall that results in a substantially fixed velocity of the hammer at the moment of impact. However, hammers of different initial energies (produced by varying their effective weights) are recommended for use with specimens of different impact resistance. Moreover, manufacturers of the equipment are permitted to use different lengths and constructions of pendulums with possible differences in pendulum rigidities resulting. (See Section .) Be aware that other differences in machine design may exist. The specimens are "standardized" in that they are required to have one fixed length, one fixed depth, and one particular design of milled notch. The width of the specimens is permitted to vary between limits.

Note 0
Results generated using pendulums that utilize a load cell to record the impact force and thus impact energy, may not be equivalent to results that are generated using manually or digitally encoded testers that measure the energy remaining in the pendulum after impact.

Note 0
The notch in the Izod specimen serves to concentrate the stress, minimize plastic deformation, and direct the fracture to the part of the specimen behind the notch. Scatter in energy-to-break is thus reduced. However, because of differences in the elastic and viscoelastic properties of plastics, response to a given notch varies among materials. A measure of a plastic's "notch sensitivity" may be obtained with Test Method D by comparing the energies to break specimens having different radii at the base of the notch.

Note 0
Caution must be exercised in interpreting the results of these standard test methods. The following testing parameters may affect test results significantly:

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. The values given in brackets are for information only.

This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

These test methods resemble ISO 180:1993 in regard to title only. The contents are significantly different.

2. Referenced Documents

D3641 Practice for Injection Molding Test Specimens of Thermoplastic Molding and Extrusion Materials
D4066 Classification System for Nylon Injection and Extrusion Materials (PA)
D5947 Test Methods for Physical Dimensions of Solid Plastics Specimens
D618 Practice for Conditioning Plastics for Testing
D883 Terminology Relating to Plastics
E691 Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study to Determine the Precision of a Test Method
ISO 180:1993 Plastics-Determination of Izod Impact Strength of Rigid Materials

Source: http://www.astm.org/Standards/D256.htm

The on-line version of the SPE GGS Spearhead is published 10 times a year. All rights are reserved. Errors and omissions are regrettable and will be corrected if possible. We reserve the right to edit any submissions. No form of this newsletter may be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the SPE GGS. To submit articles, information, corrections, or additions to the on-line Spearhead, contact spearhead@spe-ggs.org.