Design Properties for Engineers: Adhesion of High Performance Polymers

 In this blog post, we discuss the adhesion capability of different high performance polymers.

In general, adhesion bonding has several advantages compared to mechanical (screw based) connection methods:

- Glue joints allow a more uniform force distribution over the entire adhesive surface (especially under mechanical stress).

- Reduction of stress peaks

- Reduction of material damage due to drilling holes

- Weight reduction

- Excellent sealing properties

- Combination of different materials

There are several industrial adhesives available on the market. Selection of the optimal adhesive is not only dependent on the polymer compound, but also on the use conditions of the final part. The adhesive can enable a flexible or stiff bonding between the plastics. Also, there are adhesives which are temperature and chemical resistant. Furthermore, they can be electrical isolating or electrical conductive.

High performance polymers are not easy to bond since they have a high chemical resistance towards solutions. The chemical resistance of high performance polymers we discussed here. However, even for extreme chemical resistance polymers such as PTFE and PVDF, adhesives are available.

Adhesion of High Performance Polymers

Thanks for reading and #findoutaboutplastics,

Herwig

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Literature:

[1] Saechtling Kunststoff Taschenbuch, Hanser

Rule of Thumb for Polymer Engineering: The Polymer Product Pentagram

 

In this rule of thumb post, we discuss the Polymer Product Pentagram used as an overarching framework for injection moulded plastic products.

There are five factors, summarized as the Polymer Product Pentagram, which influence the outcome in having best in class injection moulded parts [1]:

1. Part design: polymer parts have an anisotropic behavior compared to isotropic metal parts. This needs to be considered in the part design, especially for injection moulded parts and specific design support during this phase. Check out here my post 5 Important Design Rules for your Next Plastic Injection Moulded Part Project.

2. Material selection: it is important to collect all the application requirements and key performance indicators. Furthermore, once the base design of the part is done, material selection can start. Among the first steps is the translation of the application requirements into material properties. There are frameworks which can support you with the systematic polymer materialselection.

3. Mould design and construction: in this phase, mould design takes place. The mould must be able to withstand the moulding process (injection pressures) and can handle the selected polymer. This is in particular important when moulding of high performance polymers, such as PPS which need a minimum of 135°C tool temperature, is done.

4. Moulding machine selection: after completing the mould design, selecting the injection moulding machine should be done. This step can be done in parallel to the mould design too (depending on the data available).

5. Moulding process: after we have obtained the first parts which passed the quality check, optimization of the process can start. It is the last step and often neglected, however, it allows making the whole production more efficient and economically robust.

Thanks for reading and #findoutaboutplastics

Greetings,

Herwig

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Check out my other rule of thumb posts: 

Rule of Thumb for Polymer Processing: The Importance of Melt Uniformity in Injection Moulding

Rule of Thumb for Polymer Material Selection: Key Properties of Long Fiber Thermoplastics (LFTs)

Rule of Thumb for Plastic Parts: 4 Factors Impacting Plastic Part Performance

Rule of Thumb for Plastics Injection Moulding: 20% Material Viscosity Variation over Time

Rule of Thumb for Plastic Part Design: Increase HDT & Modulus With Fillers

How to Reduce Environmental Stress Cracking - Rule of Thumb for Plastic Part Design & Material Selection

Rule of Thumb for Injection Moulding - " What happens in the cavity..."

The 5P’s – Rule of Thumb for Plastic Design and Processing Operations

Interested in my monthly blog posts – then subscribe here and receive my high performance polymers knowledge matrix.

New to my Find Out About Plastics Blog – check out the start here section

Literature:

[1] Distinctive Plastics Inc.:  The 5 critical factors to produce a successful injection moulded product, 2011,

European Plastics Demand by Resin Types (2009-2019) [Racing Bar Chart]

Racing bar chart about the European plastics demand by resin types (in %; 2009-2019):

Thanks for watching and #findoutaboutplastics

Greetings

Herwig 

Date source: PlasticsEurope Market Research Group

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30 Publicly Traded Materials Stocks - 2020 Performance and Outlook

The eventful year 2020 is over and it is time to look how 30 publicly listed material companies have performed.

The “Corona-Crash” hit bottom in March 2020 (around 16-18^th) and with it the S&P 500 Index dropped around 34%. Central banks in the USA and EU reacted fast and flushed the markets with money to stabilize the situation – with success!

The S&P 500 Index recovered in a V-shape in a month and most stocks rose again. Travel, leisure and oil kept a much slower recovery, since those sectors are still heavily impacted by the Corona Pandemic.

Overall materials performance

The Vanguard Materials ETF, which tracks the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks in the materials sector, closes with a 20% return in 2020.

30 material stock companies in detail

18 out of the 30 stocks could make gains for their shareholders (date of estimation: 02.01.2021).

This year, we will see a growth in resin demand. However material companies still feel the recession in the US and European markets. The plastics industry played a key part in battling the Covid-19 crises by supplying resins for various healthcare applications. This calmed the rage against plastics.

In the long-term, the plastics industry counts with a yearly polyolefin market growth of 3 to 4% per year, since the world population is growing and access to clean water over the piping systems is in high demand, as well as medical care products and electronics.

Thanks for reading and #findoutaboutplastics

Herwig

Interested in my monthly blog posts – then subscribe here and receive my high performance polymers knowledge matrix.

New to my Find Out About Plastics Blog – check out the start here section