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This thesis was conducted in cooperation with a Swedish company that develops and manufactures plastic compounds. An increasing need for identifying material properties is seen within the industry in order to predict the outcome of the extrusion process by using simulations. The purpose of this study was to expand a material database with the results obtained through various measurements of the material parameters in order to enable simulations. The numerical descriptions would be analyzed and validated in relation to the obtained results and conducted methods to enable implementation of the material data into the industry. In order to fulfill the purpose, scientific methods was applied by chosen literature studies, research approaches and experimental research. Machine tests were conducted to collect relevant output data that was compared with the results obtained during the simulation process where the experimentally determined material parameters were applied in a material database. Typical injection molding qualities of PET, POM, PC/ABS, SAN and PA66 has been investigated by conducting measurement methods described by standards of the melt flow rate, specific heats, viscosity, crystallinity and melt- and glass transition temperatures. With exception of the viscosity, the material parameters are considered to have high external validity and high reliability and can be implemented into the industry. The bulk- and melt density was determined by adapted methods that need further investigations. The external validity is reduced until these methods and measurements have been validated. The determined material parameters proved to be able to generate reliable simulation results that indicate of how the extrusion process will turn out based on the output values investigated. The data obtained through machine tests was compared with the results that were achieved through simulations and deviated at most 10.9% from the actual outcomes. The viscosity is considered to be the main factor that affects the differences of the output data between the machine tests and the simulation results.

The UK Health & Safety Executive are responsible for advising on ways to ensure the safety of employees within the workplace. One of the main areas of concern is the potential problem of unwanted fire, and it has been identified that within the area of large-scale storage in warehouses, there is an uncertainty posed by large quantities of thermoplastic. Some forms of thermoplastic exhibit melt-flow behaviour when heated, and a large vertical array exposed to a fire may melt and ignite forming a pool fire in addition to a wall fire. This project is largely experimental, and aimed at quantifying the effect of a growing pool fire fuelled by a melting wall on overall fire growth rate. The pool fire has been found to increase melting and burning rates, producing a much faster growing fire. It has also been found that - 80% of flowing and burning material will enter a potential pool fire, with only 20 - 25% of total mass loss actually burning from the original array. During the project 400+ small-scale tests and several medium-scale experiments have been undertaken at both Edinburgh University and the HSE's Fire & Explosion Laboratory, Buxton. The experiments have confirmed the main parameters governing pool fire development are molecular weight degradation rate and mechanism, which control flow viscosity. There have also been investigations into other influences, the most significant of which was found to be flooring substrate. These parameters then form the basis of a simple 1-D model. A semi-infinite heat transfer approximation is used to determine temperature profile through a thermoplastic exposed to its own flame flux, with extrapolated temperature dependant material properties. The derived profile is then inserted into a gravity driven flow model, to produce estimates of flow rate and quantity for plastics undergoing either random or end chain scission thermal degradation processes. The model identifies property data which are required to permit its use as a hazard assessment tool.

This study covers the recycling of waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles through melt blending with low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP). In general, polymer blends are known to be immiscible and incompatible with poor mechanical properties. This problem is due to the low intermolecular forces between the components of the immiscible blends. In order to enhance the interaction and compatibility between these matrices, some reactive or non-reactive copolymers were used. In this work / PET was treated with silane coupling agent (SCA) (low molecular weight reactive additive) for compatilization of LDPE-PP-PET blends. LDPE-PP-PET blends were prepared in different compositions (by weight) with and without silane coupling agent at high temperatures by a single screw extrusion and injection molding. Mechanical properties of treated and non-treated blends were studied in terms of tensile strength, strain at break and impact strength. Melt flow properties of blends were investigated by melt flow index. The impact fractured surfaces and thermal behaviour of the blends were examined with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), respectively. Through out the studies, good adhesion between PET and LDPE-PP matrix was successfully achieved by the surface treatment of PET particles. The adhesion was also observed in SEM studies. Also the variation in mechanical properties was found to be highly dependent on the number of extrusion.

In this study, the High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) blends prepared by Plasticorder Brabender were strengthened by adding Carbon Black (CB). Blends were prepared at 190 &deg / C. Amounts of LDPE were changed to 30, 40, 50 and 60 percent by the volume and the percent amounts of CB were changed to 5, 10,15, 20 and 30 according to the total volume. Thermal and morphological properties were investigated by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Mechanical properties were investigated by tensile test and hardness measurements. Melt flow properties were studied by Melt Flow Index (MFI) measurements. Electrical conductivities were measured by four probe and two probe techniques. Temperature dependence of electrical conductivity was also studied. In general, it is observed that stress at break and MFI values decrease by the addition of CB / however, modulus and hardness increase. DSC results indicated that the crystallization of the polymer blend was decreased by the addition of CB. SEM results showed that the components were mixed homogenously. Increasing CB content increased electrical conductivity. Furthermore, by increasing the temperature, positive temperature coefficient behavior was observed which increases when CB content decreased.

Melt flow plays an important role in directional solidification of multicrystalline silicon influencing the temperature field and the crystallization interface as well as the transport of impurities. This work investigates the potential of a traveling magnetic field (TMF) for an active control of the melt flow. A system of 3D numerical models was developed and adapted based on open-source software for calculations of Lorentz force, melt flow, and related phenomena. Isothermal and non-isothermal model experiments with a square GaInSn melt were used to validate the numerical models by direct velocity measurements. Several new 3D flow structures of turbulent TMF flows were observed for different melt heights. Further numerical parameter studies carried out for silicon melts showed that already a weak TMF-induced Lorentz force can stir impurities near to the complete mixing limit. Simultaneously, the deformed temperature field leads to an increase of the deflection of crystallization interface, which may exhibit a distinct asymmetry. The numerical results of this work were implemented in a research-scale silicon crystallization furnace. Scaling laws for various phenomena were derived allowing a limited transfer of the results to the industrial scale.

Orientadores: Rubens Maciel Filho, Jose Carlos Costa da Silva Pinto, Priamo Albuquerque Melo Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T00:03:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lucca_EneidaAparecidade_M.pdf: 1657459 bytes, checksum: 56b6b6c35a2802734e03ed28ceb76c67 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Reatores tubulares do tipo loop são amplamente empregados nas indústrias de poliolefinas. No caso da produção de polipropileno, compõem a tecnologia Spheripol. São constituídos de duas seções tubulares interconectadas por um ponto de alimentação e por uma bomba, que promove a recirculação da massa reacional. O simulador dinâmico desenvolvido nesse trabalho é capaz de estimar valores de diversas variáveis chave no monitoramento do processo; dentre elas, o XS e o MFI. As validações feitas mostraram que o simulador é capaz de representar de forma acurada os dados experimentais disponíveis em uma planta real de polimerização, inclusive para ¿N¿ reatores em série / Abstract: Tubular loop reactors are widely used in the polyolefins industries. In the particular case of polypropylene production, loop reactors are part of the Spheripol technology. Loop reactors are composed of two tubular reactors that are connected by a feed point and a pump that is responsible for promoting recirculation of the reaction mass. The dynamic simulator developed here is able to estimate values of several important variables used to monitor the industrial process, like the XS and the MFI. The model was validated with actual industrial data obtained for different reactor configurations, including ¿N¿ reactors in series / Mestrado / Engenharia de Processos / Mestre em Engenharia Química

In this article the correlation between the average molar mass and the melt flow rate (MFR) is achieved. Based on the example of Polyoxymethylene (POM) it is shown that a high average molar mass is associated with a low MFR (high viscosity). On the basis of this dependency, the mechanical properties of static and dynamic tensile strength, elastic modulus, hardness and notched impact strength are investigated. It was found that the characteristic values of static tensile strength, elastic modulus and hard-ness increase with increasing MFR (decreasing viscosity). On the other hand the dynamic long-term properties and notched impact strengths decrease with increasing MFR. / Im Beitrag wird der Zusammenhang zwischen der mittleren molaren Masse und des Schmelzfließindex (MFR) hergestellt. Dabei wird am Beispiel von Polyoxymethylen (POM) ersichtlich, dass eine hohe mittlere molare Masse mit einem geringen MFR (hochviskos) einhergeht. Basierend auf dieser Abhängigkeit werden die mechanischen Eigenschaften statische und dynamische Zugfestigkeit, E-Modul, Härte sowie Kerbschlagzähigkeit untersucht. Dabei konnte festgestellt werden, dass die Kenngrößen statische Zugfestigkeit, E-Modul und Härte mit steigendem MFR (abnehmende Viskosität) zunehmen. Die dynamischen Langzeiteigenschaften und Kerbschlagzähigkeiten sinken hingegen mit zunehmendem MFR.

For the automotive sector, plastics play the most important role when designing interior and exterior parts for cars. Currently, most parts are made from petroleum-based plastics but alternatives are needed to replace environmentally harmful materials while providing the appropriate mechanical performance and preferably reduce the cost for the final product. The objective of this work was to explore the use of soy flakes as natural filler in a composite with polypropylene and to investigate the mechanical properties, water absorption and thermal behaviour. For a better understanding of the filler, the soy flakes were characterized extensively with analytical and microscopic methods. Two types of soy fillers were investigated, soy flakes, provided by Bunge Inc., with a 48 wt-% protein content and an industrial soy based filler with 44 wt-% protein content and provided by Ford. The size of the soy flakes after milling was mainly between 50 and 200 µm and below 50 µm for the industrial filler. The aspect ratio for all filler was below 5. The soy flakes were used after milling and subjected to two pre-treatment methods: (1) one hour in a 50 °C pH 9 water solution in a 1 : 9 solid-liquid ratio; (2) one hour in a 50 °C pH 9 1M NaCl solution in a 1 : 9 solid-liquid ratio. A control filler, without pre-treatment was considered. The soy flakes were also compared to an industrial soy based filler provided by Ford (soy flour (Ford)). The thermogravimetric analysis showed an onset of degradation at 170 °C for the treated filler (ISH2O and ISNaCl) and 160 °C for the untreated filler. The biocomposites formulation consisted of 30 wt-% filler, and polypropylene with/without 0.35 wt-% anti-oxidant Irganox 1010 and with/without the addition of MA-PP as coupling agent. All biocomposites were compounded in a mini-extruder, pressed into bars by injection moulding and tested subsequently. The mechanical properties of the biocomposites are promising. An increase of the E-modulus was observed when compared to pure polypropylene. The addition of MA-PP as coupling agent increased the yield strength of the biocomposites. When pure polypropylene and the biocomposites were compared no difference could be seen for their yield strength. The thermal behaviour deduced from differential scanning calorimetry, revealed a similar behaviour for the biocomposites and the pure polypropylene. Only the samples treated in the presence of NaCl and without a coupling agent, appear to have a slightly higher degree of crystallinity. The melt flow index was slightly increased for the biocomposites containing soy flakes pre-treated with NaCl and decreased for biocomposites containing the soy flour. The water absorption behaviour of the biocomposites was quite similar at the beginning with a slightly lower absorption for the materials with coupling agent. After three months, all samples except the ones treated with water showed a weight loss that can be due to the leaching of the water soluble components in the untreated filler and the NaCl treated filler. In conclusion, soy flakes represent an attractive filler when used in a polypropylene matrix if an aqueous alkaline pre-treatment is performed. The aqueous alkaline extraction also leads to the recovery of the proteins that can be used in food products while the remaining insoluble material is used for the biocomposites, avoiding the competition with the use of soy for food products...