Biaxial Characterisation of Materials for Thermoforming and Blow Moulding

During free surface moulding processes such as thermoforming and blow moulding heated polymer materials are subjected to rapid biaxial deformation as they are drawn into the shape of a mould. In the development of process simulations it is therefore essential to be able to accurately measure and model this behaviour. Conventional uniaxial test methods are generally inadequate for this purpose and this has led to the development of specialised biaxial test rigs. In this paper the results of several programmes of biaxial tests conducted at Queen’s University are presented and discussed. These have included tests on high impact polystyrene (HIPS), polypropylene (PP) and aPET, and the work has involved a wide variety of experimental conditions. In all cases the results clearly demonstrate the unique characteristics of materials when subjected to biaxial deformation. PP draws the highest stresses and it is the most temperature sensitive of the materials. aPET is initially easier to form but exhibits strain hardening at higher strains. This behaviour is increased with increasing strain rate but at very high strain rates these effects are increasingly mollified by adiabatic heating. Both aPET and PP (to a lesser degree) draw much higher stresses in sequential stretching showing that this behaviour must be considered in process simulations. HIPS showed none of these effects and it is the easiest material to deform.

Measurement of Polymer-to-Polymer Contact Friction in Thermoforming

Contact friction plays a critical role in all the major thermoforming processes for polymers. However, these effects are very difficult to measure in practice and, as a result, have received little scientific investigation. In this work, two independently developed test methods for the measurement of elevated temperature polymer-to-polymer contact friction are presented, and their results are compared in detail for the first time. One is based on a modified moving sled friction test, whereas the other uses a rotational rheometer. In each case, friction tests were conducted between two plug and two sheet materials. The results show that broadly similar coefficients of friction were obtained from the two test methods. The measured values were quite low (<0.3) at lower temperatures and typically were higher for polypropylene (PP) sheet than for polystyrene (PS). On approaching the glass transition temperature for PS (95°C) and the crystalline melting point for PP (165°C), the friction coefficients rose very sharply, and both test techniques became increasingly unreliable. It was concluded that despite their physical differences, both test techniques were able to capture the highly temperature sensitive nature of friction between polymer materials used in thermoforming.

The inferential monitoring of the screw disturbance torque to predict process fluctuations in polymer extrusion

Polymer extrusion is one of the major methods of processing polymer materials and advanced process monitoring is important to ensure good product quality. However, commonly used process monitoring devices, e.g. temperature and pressure sensors, are limited in providing information on process dynamics inside an extruder barrel. Screw load torque dynamics, which may occur due to changes in solids conveying, melting, mixing, melt conveying, etc., are believed to be a useful indicator of process fluctuations inside the extruder barrel. However, practical measurement of the screw load torque is difficult to achieve. In this work, inferential monitoring of the screw load torque signal in an extruder was shown to be possible by monitoring the motor current (armature and/or field) and simulation studies were used to check the accuracy of the proposed method. The ability of this signal to aid identification and diagnosis of process issues was explored through an experimental investigation. Power spectral density and wavelet frequency analysis were implemented together with a covariance analysis. It was shown that the torque signal is dominated by the solid friction in the extruder and hence it did not correlate well with melting fluctuations. However, it is useful for online identification of solids conveying issues.

Sugar–derived organogels as templates for structured, photoluminescent conjugated polymer-inorganic hybrid materials

Co-assembly of an inorganic–organic hybrid material through the combination of supramolecular organogel self-assembly, phase partitioning of a conjugated polymer (CP) and transcription of an inorganic oxide leads to a hybrid material with structured domains of organogel, CP and silica within tube and rod microstructures.

Enhancing process insight in polymer extrusion by grey box modelling

Due to the complexity and inherent instability in polymer extrusion there is a need for process models which can be run on-line to optimise settings and control disturbances. First-principle models demand computationally intensive solution, while ‘black box’ models lack generalisation ability and physical process insight. This work examines a novel ‘grey box’ modelling technique which incorporates both prior physical knowledge and empirical data in generating intuitive models of the process. The models can be related to the underlying physical mechanisms in the extruder and have been shown to capture unpredictable effects of the operating conditions on process instability. Furthermore, model parameters can be related to material properties available from laboratory analysis and as such, lend themselves to re-tuning for different materials without extensive remodelling work.

Stabilization of zinc electrodes with a conducting polymer

The reversibility of zinc anode in alkaline medium was enhanced by electrostatic deposition of a conducting polymer (polypyrrole). Electropolymerization of pyrrole onto zinc in aqueous medium using an organic acid as dopant is feasible and preferred as zinc is less corrosive in this medium. The structure of the polymer film was analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The effect of the polypyrrole deposit on the zinc electrode was studied by cyclic voltammetry and charge–discharge cycling.