Search Results for polymer pressure bars

This article addresses the specialized aspects required to accurately quantify the behavior of soft materials, including polymers and polymeric composites, using the split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). It details some of the specialized SHPB techniques that facilitate testing soft materials. These techniques include the data-reduction techniques and assumptions required to use polymer pressure bars, the importance of sample-size considerations to polymer testing, and temperature-control methodologies to measure the high-strain-rate uniaxial stress response of polymers and other soft materials.

Induction heating for hardening of steels has advantages from the standpoint of quenching because parts are individually processed in a controlled manner. This article provides information on the effect of agitation, temperature, hardening, residual stresses, and quenching media, on quenching. It also describes various quenching methods for steel induction heat treating, namely, spray quenching, immersion quenching, self or mass quenching, and forced air quenching. The article also reviews quench system design and quenchants and their maintenance.

This article describes the techniques involved in measuring the high-strain-rate stress-strain response of materials using a split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). It focuses on the generalized techniques applicable to all SHPBs, whether compressive, tensile, or torsion. The article discusses the methods of collecting and analyzing compressive high-rate mechanical property data. A review of the critical experimental variables that must be controlled to yield valid and reproducible high-strain-rate stress-strain data is also included. Comparisons and contrasts to the differences invoked when using a tensile Hopkinson bar in terms of loading technique, sample design, and stress-state stability, are discussed.

This article explores the possibilities and limitations imposed by manufacturing processes and materials. Detailed design rules for the processes are presented. The article lists the main features of process groups in a tabular form. The physical characteristics and ratings of relative cost and production factors are also tabulated. The process groups include casting; deformation; powder processing; machining; noncutting; joining; ceramic, glass, and polymer processing; and composites manufacturing.

This article provides an overview of common quenching media, the factors involved in the mechanism of quenching, and process variables, namely, surface condition, mass and section size of the workpiece, and flow rate of the quenching liquid. It describes the methods of quenchant characterization using hardening-power and cooling-power tests. The article discusses the fundamentals involved in heat-transfer coefficient and heat flux of quenching processes. This discussion is followed by various actual examples of applications of these methods using simplified equations. Quenchant evaluation, classification, selection, and maintenance are reviewed in detail. The article addresses the various reasons for quench oil variability and complications due to aging and contamination.

This article defines performance indices in a formal way and specifies how they are derived. The performance indices for a light, strong tie and a light, stiff beam are presented. The article presents two case studies that illustrate the use of material indices, shape factors, and selection charts to select materials.

Inverse hardening a steel of adequate hardenability requires a workpiece of sufficiently large cross section, an appropriate cooling medium, and the right quenching conditions. This article explains the Temperature Gradient Quenching Analysis System (TGQAS), which can measure, record, and evaluate all quenching processes in common use, describing their heat extraction dynamics by corresponding thermodynamic functions. It discusses the metallurgical aspects of steels with an emphasis on two different processes, namely, heat extraction (a thermodynamic process) and microstructural transformation (a metallurgical process) that are initiated at the moment when the austenitized workpiece is immersed in the quenchant. The article describes the uses of polyalkylene glycol copolymer and the effect of hardness and fatigue resistance on AISI 4140 type steel.

Microvalve jetting, with its advantages of low cost, ease of operation, high printing speed, and ability to process living cells with high viability, has been primarily used for fabricating high-throughput drug-screening models, in vitro cellular structures for fundamental cell biology research, and cell-laden structures for regenerating tissues or organs in the human body after disease or trauma. This article provides an overview of microvalve jetting of biomaterials, including operational parameters. The jetting technologies covered are inkjet printing, microvalve jetting, and laser-assisted jetting. The parameters covered include nozzle size (nozzle inner diameter), pneumatic pressure, valve-opening time, and printing speed of microvalve jetting. Subsequently, the article discusses biomaterials for microvalve jetting in terms of biomaterial definition, required properties for a suitable biomaterial, currently used biomaterials, and cells and cellular structures. Additionally, applications of microvalve jetting in biomedical engineering are presented, which include cellular and RNA analysis, high-throughput drug screening, and tissue engineering.

Drawing is a process by which a workpiece is pulled against a die to produce a wire, bar, or tube with smaller cross sectional area compared with the initial stock. This article discusses the variables that affect the drawing process and the parameters that influence friction, lubrication, and wear. These parameters include process, lubricant, workpiece, and tooling. The article provides information on dry and wet lubrication in wire drawing. The dry lubrication refers to use of solid lubricants while wet lubrication refers to the practice of providing a liquid lubricant to the workpiece-die interface. The article describes the most common types and causes of die wear: abrasive wear, adhesive wear, surface fatigue wear, thermal fatigue wear, and catastrophic failure. It concludes with a discussion on the surface treatment and texturing that are used to reduce die wear in drawing operations.

The lifetime assessment of polymeric products is complicated, and if the methodology utilized leads to inaccurate predictions, the mistakes could lead to financial loss as well as potential loss of life, depending on the service application of the product. This article provides information on the common aging mechanisms of polymeric materials and the common accelerated testing methods used to obtain relevant data that are used with the prediction models that enable service life assessment. Beginning with a discussion of what constitutes a product failure, this article then reviews four of the eight major aging mechanisms, namely environmental stress cracking, chemical degradation, creep, and fatigue, as well as the methods used in product service lifetime assessment for them. Later, several methods of service lifetime prediction that have gained industry-wide acceptance, namely the hydrostatic design basis approach, Miner's rule, the Arrhenius model, and the Paris Law for fatigue crack propagation, are discussed.

This article discusses technologies focused on processing plastic materials or producing direct tools used in plastics processing. The article focuses on extrusion and injection molding, covering applications, materials and their properties, equipment, processing details, part design guidelines, and special processes. It also covers the functions of the extruder, webline handling, mixing and compounding operations, and process troubleshooting. Thermoforming and mold design are covered. Various other technologies for polymer processing covered in this article are blow molding, rotational molding, compression molding, transfer molding, hand lay-up process, casting, and additive manufacturing.

Injection molding is a process of forcing or injecting a fluid plastic material into a closed mold. The process generally has the advantages of being more readily automated and of permitting finer part details. Injection-molding compounds are thermoplastic or thermosetting materials and their composites that are specifically formulated for the injection-molding process. This article discusses the injection molding process, which includes the two basic categories of thermoplastic and thermoset injection molding, and lists the common thermoplastic and thermoset molding compounds and applications. It also describes the operation of the different types of injection molding machines as well as mold design and process controls. The article also describes the selection of injection-moldable thermosets, and provides an overview of part performance, properties, blowing agents, and aesthetic concerns related to thermoplastic structural-foam injection molding.

In this article, a metallurgical overview of the hardening process is provided. This overview is followed by the methodology involved in obtaining cooling curves, the currently accepted standardized methods of testing, and the use of newer methods of cooling curve data interpretation that describe the quenching process.

Resin transfer molding and structural reaction injection molding belong to a family, sometimes denoted as liquid composite molding. This article provides information on the characteristics and automotive and aerospace applications of liquid composite molding. It reviews techniques that use hard tooling and positive (superatmospheric) pressures to produce structures. The techniques include vacuum-assisted resin injection, vacuum infusion, resin-film infusion, and injection-compression molding. The article provides an overview of the materials that are commonly used together with some of processing characteristics that are important to processing speed and part quality. It concludes with a discussion on design guidelines for the liquid composite molding.

Quenchant agitation can be obtained by circulating quenchant in a quench tank through pumps and impellers. The selection of the agitation method depends on the tank design, type and volume of the quenchant, part design, and the severity of quench required. This article describes flow measurement methods, temperature control, materials handling, and filtration processes during the agitation process. The maintenance of quenching installations is also discussed.

Seals are mechanical components that prevent the leakage, diffusion, transfer, or mixing of different liquid, gas, solid, and multiphasic substances. This article begins by discussing the classifications of seals: static and dynamic. Static seals involve both self-energizing elastomeric materials such as O-rings, which merely react to a sealed fluid pressure, and passive materials that require clamping forces to achieve sealing, such as gaskets. The types of dynamic seals include rotary seals and reciprocating seals. The article describes the factors affecting seal wear and failure. It provides a list of some common seal wear modes and failures, namely abrasion, cavitation damage, chemical attack, compression set, corrosion, damage during abrupt decompression, dieseling damage, extrusion damage, installation damage, spiral or rolling damage, and vaporization damage. The article concludes with specific recommendations for reducting of seal friction and wear.

Accelerated life testing and aging methodologies are increasingly being used to generate engineering data for determining material property degradation and service life (or fitness for purpose) of plastic materials for hostile service conditions. This article presents an overview of accelerated life testing and aging of unreinforced and fiber-reinforced plastic materials for assessing long-term material properties and life expectancy in hostile service environments. It considers various environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, weathering, liquid chemicals (i.e., alkalis and acids), ionizing radiation, and biological degradation, along with the combined effects of mechanical stress, temperature, and moisture (including environmental stress corrosion). The article also includes information on the use of accelerated testing for predicting material property degradation and long-term performance.

In this article, an in-depth overview of petroleum quenching oils is provided, including oil composition, use, mechanism of the oil quenching processes, oil degradation, toxicology and safety, and quenching bath maintenance.