GE Plastics has come up with a way to turn post-consumer plastic waste, chiefly PET bottles, into PBT-based polymers. Not simply a recycling effort, GE spent two years developing a manufacturing process that chemically upgrades the post-consumer waste, turning it into a feedstock suitable for making PBT-based polymers. GE claims the process saves both energy and reduces COČ emissions compared to traditional PBT manufacturing. The new eco-materials come in two versions: Valox iQ is a PBT-based polymer derived from 85 percent post-consumer waste. Xenoy iQ is an alloy of polycarbonate and PBT-based polymers, the latter also derived from 85 percent post-consumer waste. The materials don't trade-off properties in return for their environmental advantages. In fact, GE developed them initially for Japanese auto component makers, among them DENSO. Potential applications include demanding uses such as automotive connectors, lighting bezels, energy absorbers and body panels. For more information on GE's PBT-based polymers, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4933-534.
Our LinkedIn systems and product design engineering group discusses if they are happy with their decision of remaining a technical contributor instead of becoming a manager.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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