Improving Snapfit Design - Part 4
This is the fourth in a series of five articles on Snap-Fit design presented by BASF Engineering Plastics. Our intent is to help design engineers achieve better results through the use of improved principles and procedures for snap-fit design, application, processing and fabrication.
Corn - It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
Normally, when nature produces polymers, they are strings of protein like keratin or polypeptides. Now, however, with help from companies like NatureWorks LLC, a subsidiary of Cargill, starch from corn is being turned into a different kind of polymer: plastic. Unlike typical plastics, however, this one is biodegradable.
Minimizing specific sliding, thus improving efficiency.
Minimizing tooth deflections.
Keeping working stresses below material strengths to insure adequate service life.
Moisture in Nylon – What's the Right Number?
This article was inspired by a colleague of mine, someone I have worked with for a long time. We have been coworkers in the same company, we have worked for competing molding companies, and now we circulate in overlapping spheres within the industry—he at an OEM that purchases a lot of plastic parts, and I as an independent consultant who works with OEMs that purchase a lot of plastic parts. As such, we both interact with processors and material suppliers. Michael Sepe, Material Analyst
Metal Replacement
In this article we will consider in depth the phenomenon of creep and techniques for arriving at assessments of long-term behavior using accelerated testing methods that shorten the timeline from years to weeks or even days. Any material, when placed under stress, will exhibit a particular deformation or strain. The ratio of this stress to strain is known as the modulus of the material and is understood to be a measurement of a material’s stiffness.
Plastics Assembly Tools
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ website includes newly designed engineering tools that can assist in the design enhancement of applications. Four of these engineering tools can be grouped into a category referred to as Assembly Tools. Some of these tools are very simple in their functionality but can serve a very useful purpose when considering a part that needs to be designed for proper assembly features, and minimizing the risk of part failure in the future.
5 Actions to Squeeze Out Every Ounce of Profit
There is money you haven’t found yet. Little treasures in your business just waiting to be uncovered. Here are a few places to start digging.
What is the Best Technology for Drying Your Resin?
The variety of technologies, and nuances in each technology, can make choosing the right resin dryer challenging. No one technology works perfectly for all applications. It is your situation, application, and the resin types you process, that determine what type of dryer you should be using.
Cross-Training Your Plastics Equipment for Better Productivity
A simple but effective plan for custom molders. Being competitive in today’s molding industry is more challenging than ever before. Whatever the issue . . . resin costs, China, you name it, this is not your father’s molding industry anymore.
The Lifecycle of Plastic - Impacts on Business and the Economy
As the cost of petrochemicals skyrockets and concern with the environment continues to grow, we ’ll have to think more about plastic’s origins and destinations, both as consumers and as producers of plastic components.
Ways in which Plastic is Substituted for other Materials
There ’s nothing new about plastic as a substitute for other materials. From its very beginnings, plastic took the place of whalebone, tortoiseshell, wood, and stone. The reasons for substitution were simple: availability and cost. Mixing up a vat of combustible celluloid had its risks, but they were small compared to those of hunting whales in tiny boats. Plastics were cheap compared to the semiprecious stones they replaced in costume jewelry, and they were easier to work than wood or stone.
The Basics of Resin Selection
You know there are tools out there to help you pick the right material for your part, but are you up to speed on the terms and technology needed to use them? Here ’s a place to start.
A Mesh By Any Other Name - Is it Still the Same?
Computer-aided engineering (CAE) simulation of injection molding is a mathematical representation of a physical manufacturing process. As such, there are assumptions and limitations inherent in the software that users must understand in order to obtain the most accurate results.
Plastics Design Principles: Theory and Concepts
The Moldflow Design Principles are a set of rules that influence the design of a part and tools to optimize the filling of a part. When these principles are followed, higher quality parts and faster cycle times are the result. Not following these plastics design principles leads to problematic designs.
Choosing the Right Extensometer for Every Plastic Materials Testing Application
In materials and component testing the range of applications where extensometers are used is extremely diverse. As a result, the technical requirements for these devices are multifaceted, and means that there is no single device which satisfies all needs.
Material Stability and Performance Test
Creep experiments are a valuable method for studying the viscoelastic properties of polymer melts. The zero shear viscosity can be calculated at many temperatures and plotted as a function of temperature.
Frequency Sweep and Temperature Sweep Package
A great test package, for incoming raw material resins, and to determine the viscosity as a
function of temperature. In order to successfully predict the processibility of polymer melts, it is
important to characterize the viscoelastic properties and the temperature dependency.
