Engineering Materials

Engineering materials is a discussion led by Design News Contributing Materials Editor Doug Smock on important new developments and applications that affect mechanical design.

The Smart Money Makes Bets on Engineering Nylon

Posted by Doug Smock on July 2, 2009

The nylon business may be weak right now, but the smart money says it has a bright future. Last week, I reported from the National Plastics Exposition that Invista, a major chemical producer, is entering the engineering nylon business. Now, there’s another new name in the business- Ascend Performance Materials. That’s what the nylon business formerly owned by St. Louis-based Solutia ...... Read More

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There's No Recession in Engineering Innovations

Posted by Doug Smock on July 1, 2009

I’ve been attending National Plastics Expositions since the 1980s, and it’s amazing how the scope of the show has grown. Before 1986, the only hall (the East Hall) faced Lake Michigan and an old municipal airport, and had 522,000 square feet in exhibition space. In 1986, the North Hall opened; in 1996, the South Hall; and in 2007, the West Hall. Total exhibition space today is 2.6 mi ...... Read More

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NPE: Invista Enters Nylon Compounds Business

Posted by Doug Smock on June 25, 2009

The economy may be weak, but not the entrepreneurial spirit. A major new nylon producer emerged at the National Plastics Exposition this week in Chicago. The new producer is Invista, a company that was formed more than five years ago from assets spun off from DuPont. Based in Wichita, KS, Invista is one of the world’s largest producers of polymers and fibers, primarily for apparel and carpe ...... Read More

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NPE: DuPont Launches Fully Commerical Bioplastic Slate

Posted by Doug Smock on June 24, 2009

DuPont officially launched a fully commercialized portfolio of biobased plastics at the National Plastics Exposition in Chicago that is clearly the broadest and most ambitious in the industry. Biobased resins that have been on the market for the past four or five years had limited scope. They were aimed at biodegradable packaging applications, and putting biobased polymers into the engineering ar ...... Read More

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NPE: 3M's Glass Bubbles Boost Flow, Reduce Warpage

Posted by Doug Smock on June 23, 2009

Weight reduction in cars and other applications is driving use of innovative technologies such as glass microspheres in plastic compounds. Noble Polymers, a compounding business of Cascade Engineering, has developed a low-density polyolefin formulation using 3M glass bubbles that reduces the weight of TPO plastic parts up to 20 percent. A part on display at the 3M booth at this week’ ...... Read More

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NPE: PolyOne Rolls Out Bio Compound Portfolio

Posted by Doug Smock on June 23, 2009

PolyOne, a leading specialty compounder, launched a line of biopolymer compounds at this week’s National Plastics Exposition in Chicago. Patent-pending Resound compounds will be formulated with a minimum of 30 percent bio-derived content, and as much as 70 percent, Dr. Cecil C. Chappelow, vice president of innovation for PolyOne, told Design News in an interview. The biobased polymer ...... Read More

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NPE: Autodesk Injects Firepower Into Moldflow

Posted by Doug Smock on June 23, 2009

Autodesk acquired Moldlow last year and clearly is injecting digital firepower into the simulation software company founded by Colin Austin in Australia in 1978. Simulations are now delivered more than two times faster with a parallel architecture using NVIDIA Quatro FX 4800 and Quatro FX 5800 GPUs, says Hilde Sevens, senior product line manager for the Manufacturing Solutions Division of Autodes ...... Read More

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NPE: Sabic IP Will Sell Filled Polypropylene

Posted by Doug Smock on June 22, 2009

One of the big stories at this week’s National Plastics Exposition in Chicago is the evolution of America’s plastics industry. These are my first thoughts based on a press conference this morning at the Sabic Innovative Plastics booth. Sabic IP was formed in 2007 when Sabic acquired GE Plastics, one of the original plastics companies in the world with the development of phenolic hou ...... Read More

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NPE: New In-Mold Label Technology Emerges

Posted by Doug Smock on June 21, 2009

An Ohio company that offers document services is entering the in-mold labeling market with what might be a major technology play. Competitive in-mold offerings generally use identical materials such as polycarbonate label with a polycarbonate part or a polystyrene label with polystyrene part. Compatible melt indexes are critical, creating complications when a plastic is highly filled. “A lo ...... Read More

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Photodegradable Plastic Bags--Yes, They Are Bad

Posted by Doug Smock on June 19, 2009

Have you noticed degradable plastic bags cropping up at various stores? I have railed in the past that this approach makes no sense. Now a major European recycling group has issued a statement calling use of degradable additives in plastics “nonsense” that can do more harm than good. It’s an unusually strong statement in the normally clubby world of plastics suppliers. Th ...... Read More

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Engineers Are Not Happy with Steel Quality

Posted by Doug Smock on June 16, 2009

Steel is in a battle to retain market share as automotive engineers face tough decisions about how to reduce weight. Steel producers have introduced advanced steels that are lower weight and higher quality than the mild steels they replace. However, engineers are not happy with the quality control on much of the steel the receive, based on comments made on a recent Design News survey conducted by ...... Read More

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Have Any Ideas For Cadmium Plating Replacements?

Posted by Doug Smock on June 10, 2009

Design engineers are fuming mad about the lack of decent options for cadmium as a plating material. A couple made comments in a recent study conducted by the Reed Business Information Research Department for Design News. “We need an environmentally friendly replacement with decent cost and performance,” says an engineer who designs equipment for in house use. ȁ ...... Read More

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