Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Plastic injection molding is a versatile process and a major part of the present plastic manufacturing industry. Traditional die design is limited to straight (drilled) cooling channels, which dont impart optimal thermal (or thermos-mechanical) per- formance. Moreover, reducing the cycle time in plastic injection molding has become significantly important to the industry nowadays. One approach that has been pro- posed is to use conformal cooling channels. With the advent of additive manufacturing technology, injection molding tools with conformal cooling channels are now possible. However, optimum conformal channels based on thermo-mechanical performance are not found. This study proposes a design methodology to generate optimized design configurations of such channels in plastic injection molds. Numerical models have been developed here to represent the thermo-mechanical behavior of the molds and predict the stress and cooling time. The model is then validated experimentally and used in conjunction with DOE (Design of Experiments) to study the effect of differ- ent design parameters of the channels on the die performance. Design of experiments (DOEs) is used to study the effect of critical design parameters of conformal channels as well as their cross section geometries. These DOEs are conducted to identify op- timal designs of conformal cooling channels which can be incorporated into injection molds that are used to manufacture cylindrical and conical shapes of plastic parts. Though these are simplified forms, the study provides useful insight into the poten- tial deign parameters for all kind of injection molds.Based on the DOEs, designs for best thermo-mechanical performance are identified (referred to as ”optimum”). The optimization study is basically a trade-off and the solution is based on a specific sample size. This approach is highly result-oriented and provides guidelines for selecting optimum design solutions given the plastic part thickness.

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The occurrence of deformation in plastic bottles is a common problem in the bottling industry where bottles are blow molded, hot filled at high temperatures and sealed. Plastics have unique properties that make it difficult to predict when and why such changes may occur. The root cause of such deformation is unknown by many bottle producers and recent attempts have been made to minimize the occurrence of such defects. The purpose of this research is to determine which variables involved in the bottle production process influence bottle shape. Earlier variables that were tested included both blow molding resin and total bottle sidewall thickness. The result of changing these variables did not create a decrease in defects. The use of an Ishikawa fishbone diagram identified hot filling temperature a major variable that influences final bottle shape. This research summarizes the results of a series of tests that were developed to observe the effect of hot filling temperature on final bottle shape. A positive correlation between sidewall deflection and liquid hot filling temperature was observed. A series of tensile tests were also developed to analyze the strength of various regions of a blow molded bottle. An early Pareto Analysis determined that the parting line is more susceptible to defects than any other region of the bottle. This weakness was confirmed after the tensile tests proved that there is a statistically significant difference between measurements on the sidewall and parting line (pvalue < .001). The results of this thesis highlight the consequences of arbitrarily choosing a filling temperature with little understanding of the bottle's strength at high temperatures. Plastic bottle producers and hot filling companies should unite to determine the appropriate hot filling temperature before bottles are molded and filled.

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a method of burning out expanded plastic patterns invested in ceramic shell molds. Technological information suggested that the procedure was not feasible because plastic expansion or gas combustion invariably spoiled the mold. However, burning out expanded plastic patterns would provide a practical method of using such materials in the sculptor's studio; combined with ceramic shells, the patterns would promote accurately detailed castings with ease and convenience.

This dissertation examines the vital role of bronze in the political, economic, and cultural interactions in the southern borderlands during the period of the Zhou dynasty (1045-256 BCE) in present-day Hubei province, China. It shows how the bronze economy – the production, exchange, and consumption of bronze goods – transformed the borderlands landscape. It adopts a bottom-up perspective and argues that instead of controlling the redistribution of metal, the Zhou state competed and negotiated with the local powers on the acquisition of metal resources. The regional states and indigenous polities were not passively acculturated to the Zhou center but developed local bronze culture and casting technology. Through the economic perspective, this dissertation examines social interaction not in the traditional binary of center and periphery or the royal domain and regional states but in politico-economic zones transcending political boundaries. Based on textual, archeological, and paleographical evidence, it discusses how the indigenous people in the southeastern Hubei mining region joined a transregional economic network. It also traces metal exchange, bronze production, and technology innovation in the Sui-Zao Corridor, the crossroads connecting north and south throughout the Zhou dynasty. This dissertation uses archaeometallurgical method to examine the circulation of bronze-smelting knowledge between Sujialong and other mining societies. Statistical analysis of the Sifangtang cemetery makes it possible to reconstruct the changing societal organization at the Tonglüshan mines under different political powers. This dissertation argues that the bronze economy led to unique ways of social interaction and created transregional social networks, and thus shaped the southern borderlands of the Zhou dynasty.