Impact of the NSF State/Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on low-cost, high-speed polymer composites processing on the research and educational programs at Michigan State University

Hawley, Martin C.; Jayaraman, K.; Sticklen, Jon; Moore, Bernard C.; Drzal, Lawrence T.; McCullough, R. L.

doi:10.1016/s1359-835x(01)00030-6

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…If for nothing else, a broad comprehension of the topic allows for an enriched understanding of other subject matters and an elevated, well rounded perspective of physical phenomena. Therefore, it is certainly valuable for undergraduate students to be able to study the production and use of composites [1,2]. The educational experience is substantially enhanced if students are able to gain experience with composites in an inquiry-based, hands-on lab setting [3,4] or during a co-operative employment opportunity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate Student Experiences with Composite Materials

Boyles

Moynihan

Mulroy

et al. 2011

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education

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Composite materials are being used in a variety of important strategic lightweight applications, especially in aerospace structural designs. Undergraduate students need greater exposure to this critical area of engineering materials selection and design than most curricula currently provide. Mechanical and aerospace engineering undergraduate students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have had a number of opportunities to learn hands-on skills in designing with composites and fabricating a number of structural components. They have had these opportunities in undergraduate student competitions and associations such as the NASA Great Moon Buggy Race, the Formula SAE team, and the UAH Charger Rocket Works Club. Additionally, real industrial applications of composites are learned through co-operative employment experiences. This paper describes some of the experiences that UAH undergraduate students have encountered.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate Student Experiences with Composite Materials

Boyles

Moynihan

Mulroy

et al. 2011

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In the past decade, undergraduate polymer processing courses have emerged across multiple engineering disciplines worldwide. [1][2][3] Within these courses, very little development in promoting computer simulations have been discussed. Moreover, this work shows that students can benefit by combining computational tools with hands-on laboratory exercises and that existing courses can readily implement the strategies utilized in the Composite Materials Processing course.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computer-Aided Design for Dimensional Stability of Injection Molded Fiber-Reinforced Polymers

Hershey

Jayaraman²

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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characterization, melt processing and solid-state processing of polymer composites and nanocomposites, foams and thermoplastic elastomers. He has collaborated continually with companies such as ExxonMobil Chemical Co., Dow Chemical Co., Basell, Siemens, BASF, Petoskey Plastics, Nanocor and Eovations LLC on applying rheological tests to understand flow behavior of polymeric materials: flow marks in injection molding, processing and rheology of polymer-clay nanocomposites, foamed polymers, and solid state die-drawing of expanded and oriented polymer composites. He has supervised 23 PhD students and 18 MS students at Michigan State University. He has co-authored over seventy publications, five patents and one filed patent and delivered keynote lectures at meetings of the International Polymer Processing Society.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016Computer-aided design for dimensional stability of injection molded fiber-reinforced polymers Abstract New exercises were developed for a senior level composites processing class with the help of Moldex3D software "e-design" modules to illustrate computer aided process design for injection molding of short fiber reinforced polypropylene parts. This class combines laboratory measurements and lectures on problem solving related to extrusion, compression molding and injection molding of both thermoplastic and thermosetting compounds. The emphasis in these problems was on dimensional stability and fiber orientation with different part geometries -a center gated disc and an edge gated rectangular plaque. Sixty students enrolled in the class were grouped into teams of three for this problem set.The geometry and mesh were generated and made available to the student teams. Two tutorials were also run to demonstrate the use of the software with readily available meshes to the students. By changing different parameters such as fill time, pack time, polymer type and fiber content, students could visualize these changes in the molded part dimensions and shape. Part quality was then estimated using parameters such as overall shrinkage and warpage. Students were also able to directly compare the simulated disc to an actual injection molded disc from a similar mold. The advantage of the simulation exercise was in helping students to visualize flow fields during injection as well as understanding the effects of various parameters on the final part dimensions. This visualization was a strength of Moldex3D as students were able to generate detailed contour plots and graphs along with videos to fully understand the processing stage for polymer composites. Using these visualization tools, each student team was able to evaluate and summarize how incorporating glass fibers into a polymer matrix affected the shrinkage and warpage of the molded part. Student responses were gathered to a survey questionnaire on their learning experience with the computer-aided design exercises.

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