Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Manufacturing
Course Outline
MFGT 041-
Introduction to Plastics– 3.0 Units
Course Times: Lecture T, R 10:00AM-10:50 AM LANG 105
Lab R
2 PM-4:50 PM PLMS 117
Instructor: Prof. Joe Greene (jpgreene@csuchico.edu)
Web page: http://www.csuchico.edu/~jpgreene
Lab Assistant: Chris Hendryk (PLMS 117)
Office: Location- O’Connell 425 – Phone: 898-4977
Hours M 2
PM – 4 PM
W 8 AM – 9:30
AM
R 8 AM – 9:30
AM
Course Objective: Provide students an overview of the
plastics and composites industry by investigating materials, manufacturing,
design, and business aspects.
Laboratory Objectives: Provide students an
opportunity to gain practical experience on operating equipment for plastics
manufacturing, material characterization, and secondary operations.
Textbook:
Plastics-
Materials and Processing, A.B. Strong, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, (2000)
Fee: $10 fee paid by the 3rd
week of the semester or the student
will be dropped.
Safety: Safety glasses with side shields must be purchased
by the student and worn at all times in the lab. Failure to do so will result in the student being removed from
the lab and being dropped from the class.
The student must read, understand and follow all safety procedures at
all times. If there are any questions
about the process, operation, or safe handling of materials, the student must
talk to the instructor.
Grading
1
Midterm exam 10%
1 Final exam 20%
Unannounced quizzes 10%
Lab
(4 lab reports plus notebook) 30%
4
Reports- paper of 3 to 4 typed pages 20%
100%
Note: Quizzes and tests can have 1 page of notes.
Make-up exams and quizzes are closed book and notes unless prior arrangements
are made.
Note: Grades
will be reduced for late assignments.
Lab Work (Teams of 4
students)
·
The
lab notebook will be used to record material and manufacturing information
during the lab experiments. The experiments will test the effects of additives
and reinforcements on the physical and mechanical properties of the polymer
systems as well as the effects on polymer processing. The information will include polymer material data, manufacturing
methods, equipment, experimental methods, measurement techniques, experimental
data, observations, and conclusions. The notebook will be graded in lab according
to effectiveness and organization of the data. The format of the notebook will
be provided in class.
·
Lab
report: Each student will participate in a lab group (4 students max) for 11
lab experiments. Each student group is required to complete four lab reports.
The format of the papers is provided in the class folder in OCNL 438. The experiments are selected from the
following list.
·
Injection
molding, blow molding, sheet extrusion, blown film, thermoforming, rotational
molding, RTM, and compression molding.
·
Lab
Report 1: Injection molding. Due Date- Sept
17, 2002
·
Lab
Report 2: Sheet Extrusion. Due Date- Oct
15, 2002
·
Lab
Report 3: Blown Film Extrusion Due Date-
Nov 5, 2002
·
Lab
Report 4: Thermoforming or Mini Injection Molding. Due Date- Dec 3, 2002
Note:
Each lab report must be signed by each lab member signifying that each member
worked on the lab.
1.
Literature Review– Due Date
____Sept 10, 2002
Summary Report with information provided in current
periodicals of the plastics industry. Available resources include Modern
Plastics, Plastics Technology, ANTEC Proceedings, Plastics Briefs, Journal of
Polymer Engineering and Science. (3 to 4 pages typed with 1” margins and double
spaced). The format of the papers is provided in the class folder in OCNL 438.
2.
Report_Material – Due Date
____Sept 24, 2002
The report will explain a plastic material that will
be given to you by the instructor. The report needs to be a minimum of 3 to 4
pages typed and double-spaced. It
should include the following:
·
Commercial
name and Manufacturer or Supplier(Including contact names and phone numbers of
resin suppliers)
·
Chemical
name
·
Chemical
structure of repeating unit
·
Origin
of polymer. What raw materials are used to make the polymer (Natural gas,
petroleum, acidic acid, etc…)
·
Different
forms that you can order the plastic in (powder, pellets, film, etc...)
·
Commercial
applications
·
Cost
($/lb) and typical cycle time
·
Physical
properties- Density, paintability, flamability, etc…
·
Mechanical
properties in Tensile, Shear, Compression, Flexural, and sensitivities to
moisture and chemicals
·
Typical
processing methods for Manufacturing
·
Advantages
and limitations of the material
·
2
minimum references on Journal articles that study the material, (e.g., SPE
ANTEC, Plastics World, Plastics Technology, Modern Plastics)
3.
Report_Manufacturing– Due
Date ____Oct 22, 2002
The report will explain a manufacturing process that
will be given to you by the instructor. The report needs to be 3 to 4 pages
typed and double-spaced. It should
include the following:
·
Commercial
name and Manufacturer of equipment (Including contact names and phone numbers
equipment suppliers)
·
Drawing
of each piece of the equipment with all of the parts labeled
·
Materials
that are manufactured with the process
·
Typical
cycle times
·
Cost
of the equipment
·
Typical
parts and industry using the equipment.
·
Advantages
and limitations of the manufacturing process.
·
2
minimum references on Journal articles that study the process, (e.g., SPE
ANTEC, Plastics World, Plastics Technology, Modern Plastics)
4.
Report_Recycling– Due Date
____Dec 3, 2002
The report will explain a recycling topic that will
be given to you by the instructor. The report needs to be 3 to 4 pages typed
and double spaced. It should include
the following:
·
History
of the process
·
Steps
in the recycling process
·
Feedstock
and resultant recycled product
·
Equipment
used
·
Plastics
used with recycling process
·
Cost
of equipment
·
Advantages
and Disadvantages
·
Companies
and countries using the process
·
Future
uses and possibilities with recycling
Note:
The paper on recycling can be replaced with membership in the student chapter
of SPE and a trip report from a class trip to a local plastic manufacturing
facility.