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| SPE RETEC 2002, Cleveland, Ohio June 9, 10,11 This was the second event for the recently formed Rotomolding Division of SPE and was attended by around 130 people. Held over two days, there were 16 technical papers presented. There was some good interaction between the audience and the speakers (no fireworks though!). Many thanks to the volunteers from the local SPE section including Gary, Don, Pete and Brian. Also thanks to the ladies who handled all the registration enquiries, Anna, Patsy and Cheri. Chairman: Bruce Muller, Plastics Consulting Vice Chair: Julie Stout, Wheeler Boyce Treasurer: Don Haeske House Chair: Gary Casterline, Delphi Automotive Program Chair: Paul Nugent Promotion Chair: Tom Innis, Mold In Graphics Registration Chair: Pete Nenedal
The program to date (3/15/02) is as follows: Keynote Address: Gary Rozek, Centro Corporation Gary gave an excellent presentation on the needs of the rotomolding industry at the lunch break on the first day of the event. He challenged everyone to make sure that rotomolding becomes a process of choice and not one of last resort. In many ways the process and industry has not changed a great deal over the last thirty years and he pointed out that many technologies need more testing before being brought to market. 'Are we really making progress?' he asked. Great food for thought. Moderators: Glenn Beall, Glenn Beall Plastics Dave Braeunig, Hedstrom Corporation Harry Covington, Ferry Industries, Inc. Carl Dobrzeniecki, The Molding Company, Inc. Session 1: New Materials "Modified Nylon 6 Rotational Molding Resin for Improved Impact", Randy Fleck, Honeywell Plastics New nylon formulation has improved as molded impact reducing the need for conditioning parts prior to use. "Rotational Molding Of TPOs Containing Polyolefin Plastomers", Marianna Kontopoulou, Queen's University, Canada Adding plastomer components to polypropylene material allowed low temperature impact strength to be measured for the first time in a rotomolded PP grade! "A Comparison of the Performance of Crosslinkable and Linear Polyethylenes for Rotational Molding Application", Ed Boudreux, Chevron Phillips Crosslink clearly offers improved long term crack resistance properties over standard grades of PE. "New Materials for Rotational Molding", Einar Voldner, Synergy Polymers, Ltd. on behalf of Borealis Borealis' new format for material. Essentially a micropellet, the material has good flow and moldability combined with slight reduction in cost and reduced dusting. Session 2: Additives, Color and Release Agents "Liquid Colors for Rotational Molding", Stu Lipsteur, Chroma Corporation Liquid colors will see increasing use for ease of metering and mixing. "Improved Stabilization And New Effect Additives For Rotational Molding Applications", Urs Stadler, Ciba-Geigy A wide range of stabilizers for rotomolding material is available from AO packages to anti-microbial. "The Development of New Coatings for Rotational Molding", Marty Toth, DuPont Coatings, Inc. Marty unfortunately took ill and was unable to present - I'm happy to say that he is feeling much better. "New Release Agents and Anti-Stats", George Barton, Chemtrend How release agents work and new hybrid releases that can be applied to any surface. "Investigation of Non-Traditional Antistatic Additives for Improved in-Process Color Consistency", Harry Howard, Teknor Color, Inc. New antistat agent to reduce pigment swirl - Harry won the Best Paper Award for his presentation. Session 3: Material Testing and Evaluation "Simulation of Powder Densification in Rotational Molding", Celine Bellehumeur, University of Calgary A new simulation model for powder consolidation - potentially useful for adjusting materials to allow them to be moldable. Analysis of the melting behavior of several materials allowed insight into bubble entrapment. "Blends Of Recycled Polyethylenes And Metallocene Impact Modifiers For Rotational Molding", Elizabeth Takacs, McMaster University Blending materials with post-consumer recycled waste produced materials that could be rotomolded. "Physical Properties & Different Mold Textures", Steve Andrzejewski, Equistar Chemicals Interesting program of testing that generated many questions. A review of the effect of surface texture depth on tensile, flexural and impact behavior of parts. Equistar plans to continue the work and report back at a future date. "The Effect Of Molding And Test Conditions On Environmental Stress Crack Resistance Of Rotational Molding Resins", Mark Weber, Nova Chemicals The new constant tensile stress test is more repeatable and less sensitive to experimental set-up than the traditional bent strip test in Igepal solution. Session 4: Material Processing "Rotational Molding Process Control at Boeing Commercial Airplane Co.", John Moser, The Boeing Company Review of the techniques being used by Boeing for process control including Design of Experiments and Infrared Imagery for heat flow. Extreme accuracy in tolerances required! "Improving Part Design with Finite Element Analysis", John Fawcett, Fawcett Design How to use FEA for part design - interesting analysis of curvature at base of a large tank and the correct radii to use. "Rotational Molding v. The Mechanics of Foaming", Jim Throne, Sherwood Technologies Nice review of foaming processes and why rotational molding has so many challenges in producing good quality foamed parts. A lot of practical tips given during the presentation. "Importance Of Processing Temperature Control In Single-Step Rotational Foam Molding Of Skin-Surrounded Polyolefin Foams", Remon Pop-Iliev, Ingenia Polymers An in depth study on how to better control the rotomolding process to enable single shot foaming materials to be used. Control of oven temperatures and times is critical. |
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