CPE7012-B: Polymer and Materials Engineering - Bio-Based Polymer Product - Engineering Assignment Help

Assignment Task:

Coursework Brief 

You are working as a process engineer for a company who manufacture polymeric products for the building industry. The company has decided that it would like to start to manufacture a promotional ball point pen emblazoned with the company logo and contact details. For marketing purposes the company wish to produce the pen from a bio-based polymer, of which it has no previous experience with using. PLA has been suggested as a potential polymer. 

You have been tasked with writing a feasibility report to the company’s technical director about the project. This should include an overview of PLA, in particular, its structure, properties and applications. You should also research alternative bio-based materials, and suggest whether PLA could be modified, either with additives or as a co-polymer to improve properties. The report should also cover the feasibility of injection moulding the body of the pen – the company are willing to invest in a small injection moulding machine for this purpose but have little experience the size of machine required or the type of mould tool needed. In addition you are tasked with evaluating the mechanics of the proposed pen design to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Your report should also cover any characterisation techniques the company may wish to consider investing in to ensure the quality of the product; either to characterise the polymer or the moulded product. As sustainability is important, the company also wish you to think about end of life of the product so your report should examine whether the moulded pens could be recycled or if they could be made to be sufficiently biodegradable to be composted. 

Aims & Learning Outcomes 

The aim of the coursework is to assess the ability of students to collate and apply information and perform problem solving tasks based on concepts covered within the module. These include polymer structure and properties, processing, characterisation, solid mechanics and sustainability aspects. 

The learning outcomes to be assessed from this coursework are: 

• Ability to research and demonstrate knowledge about the use of bio-based polymers 

• Ability to analyse and solve problems based on solid mechanics and polymer flow 

• Understanding of sustainability aspects applied to manufacturing of polymeric products 

Injection Moulding 

The choice of polymer has not been finalised and part of the aim of the report will be to discuss this and make a recommendation. However, a typical injection moulding grade of PLA suggested as suitable for initial consideration is Natureworks 3001D. 

A preliminary design of the pen body is a cylinder of 150mm in length, 10mm internal diameter with a wall thickness of 1mm. For the injection moulding analysis, consider that polymer will enter the cylindrical cavity by a 1mm diameter cylindrical gate of 3mm length. The gate is to be located at one end of the cylinder as shown in Figure 1. For the purposes of analysis, the cylinder can be considered to be a flattened sheet (i.e. imagine that the cylinder is cut along its length and rolled out flat, such that its width is the average of the inner and outer diameter. The gate can be positioned at the mid point of the sheet edge. 

For the moulding analysis, assume that PLA is moulded at 200°C and at that temperature has the following rheological properties n= 0.52 and K= 6620 Pas0.63. The sprue and runners can be ignored in this analysis. You will need to assume a volumetric flow rate based on the injection speed and screw diameter of the injection moulding machine you suggest.

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