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Rheology in Plastics Quality Control
2000, 140 pages, 35 figures, by John M. Dealy Peter C. Saucier - Includes CD-ROM
$89.95

Description
The global economy and the growing emphasis on quality improvement have greatly increased worldwide interest in quality assurance. In the plastics industry, one of the greatest challenges is evaluating the quality of polymer resins. In response to this challenge, it has been found that the results of rheological tests are useful indicators of resin quality. Rheological data are related directly to melt processability and indirectly to final part performance. Rheology in Plastics Quality Control successfully merges introductory rheology and measurement methods with standard statistical data treatment methods for quality control. While separate chapters deal with the rheological characterization and with statistics, the two are well integrated to illustrate the application of methods of statistical analysis to using rheological measurements as control tools. Numerous examples show how these methods can be used to solve production problems involving product quality. The CD-ROM that is included provides examples of the application of commercial statistical software to the use of rheology for quality control.

Table of Contents
Rheological Properties of Polymers-Melt Viscosity. Storage and Loss Moduli and the Complex Viscosity. How Rheological Tests Reveal Polymer Structure and Composition. Extensional Flow Behavior. An Introduction to Quality Assurance-Basic Concepts. Events and Populations. Precision. Discovering Sources of Uncertainty. Accuracy and Bias. Statistics Tests. Sampling the Production Process. Control Basics-Statistical Control Charts. Specification Limits. Improving the Process. Capillary Rheometers-Determination of the Wall Shear Stress and the Wall Shear Rate and the Viscosity. The Entrance Pressure Drop and the Extensional Viscosity. Sources of Error in Capillary Rheometry. Rotational Rheometers-Calculation of Dynamic Properties. Temperature Control. Establishing a Test Protocol. Sources of Error. Empirical Test Methods-The Melt Index. The Melt Strength. Extrudate Swell. Extrudate Distortion. Moldability Tests. Squeezing Flows. Torque Rheometers. Mooney Viscometer . On-line Rheometers for Process Control-Process Rheometers for Polymers. On-line Rheometers. On-line Determination of the Melt Index and Viscosity. Controlling the Measurement Process-Establishing a Test Protocol. Using the Test Protocol. Appendix A: Companies Manufacturing Melt Rheometers and Testers. Appendix B: Statistical Software Producers. Nomenclature.