Plastics Engineered Product Design

• A comprehensive book which collates the experience of two well-known US plastic engineers. • Enables engineers to make informed decisions. • Includes a unique chronology of the world of plastics. The use of plastics is increasing year on year, and new uses are being found for plastics in many industries. Designers using plastics need to understand the nature and properties of the materials which they are using so that the products perform to set standards. This book, written by two very experienced plastics engineers, provides copious information on the materials, fabrication processes, design considerations and plastics performance, thus allowing informed decisions to be made by engineers. It also includes a useful chronology of the world of plastics, a resource not found elsewhere.

This book is aimed at designers who have had limited or no experience with plastics materials as well as a more experienced designer who is designing a part for a use, process or an application that they are not familiar with. The reader is provided with an introduction to plastics as a design material and a discussion of materials commonly in use today. There is a discussion of a variety of processes available to the designer to make a part along with the design considerations each process will entail. This section also includes a discussion of useful prototyping processes, including advantages and disadvantages of each. Next, the book will discuss general design considerations applicable to most plastics product designs. In section 2 of the book the author will discuss elements of design of a number of generic plastic product types based on his 40+ years of experience of product design and development for a several companies with a variety of products. This section will include discussions of structural components, gears, bearings, hinges, snap fits, packaging, pressure vessels, and optical components. This section will discuss the general considerations that apply to these applications as well as specific incites about each particular application. The book concludes with a discussion of the general design process.

Plastics have become increasingly important in the products used in our society, ranging from housing to packaging, transportation, business machines and especially in medicine and health products. Designing plastic parts for this wide range of uses has become a major activity for designers, architects, engineers, and others who are concerned with product development. Because plastics are unique materials with a broad range of proper ties they are adaptable to a variety of uses. The uniqueness of plastics stems from their physical characteristics which are as different from metals, glasses, and ceramics as these materials are different from each other. One major concern is the design of structures to take loads. Metals as well as the other materials are assumed to respond elastically and to recover completely their original shape after the load is removed. Based on this simple fact, extensive litera ture on applied mechanics of materials has been developed to enable designers to predict accurately the performance of structures under load. Many engineers depend on such texts as Timoshenko's Strength of Materials as a guide to the performance of structures. Using this as a guide, generations of engineers have designed economical and safe structural parts. Unfortunately, these design principles must be modified when designing with plastics since they do not respond elastically to stress and undergo permanent deformation with sus tained loading.

Designing Successful Products with Plastics: Fundamentals of Plastic Part Design provides expert insight into design considerations required to bring a concept product or part through design and ready-for-production. The book shows how integrating four key choices—materials, processes, tooling and design—in every design decision allows the designer to fully vet and optimize the design. Rather than focusing on design rules and engineering equations used during product development, the emphasis of the book is on what the designer needs to consider during the early conceptual visualization stages, and in the detailed stages of the design process. This approach will bridge the gap between the industrial designer, tasked with the ‘big picture’ product design and use, and the part designer, tasked with the detailed plastic part design for manufacture. Useful to both experienced and novice designers, this book brings valuable design process information through specific examples, enabling designers and engineers in the plastics industry to effectively use the available technical information to successfully design and manufacture new products. Bridges the gap between the industrial designer working on product design and use, and the part designer working on detailed part design for manufacture Enables designers to establish a solid foundation for new product development on the ‘four pillars’ of the process: materials, processes, tooling, and design Provides a hierarchy and roadmap through creative product design and implementation, so engineers can translate a product from creative concept through to realization and commercialization

Introduction to Plastics Engineering provides a single reference covering the basics of polymer and plastics materials, and their properties, design, processing and applications in a practical way. The book discusses materials engineering through properties formulation, combining part design and processing to produce final products. This book will be a beneficial guide to materials engineers developing new formulations, processing engineers producing those formulations, and design and product engineers seeking to understand the materials and methods for developing new applications. The book incorporates material properties, engineering, processing, design, applications and sustainable and bio based solutions. Ideal for those just entering the industry, or transitioning between sectors, this is a quick, relevant and informative reference guide to plastics engineering and processing for engineers and plastics practitioners. Provides a single unified reference covering plastics materials, properties, design, processing and applications Offers end-to-end coverage of the industry, from formulation to part design, processing, and the final product Serves as an ideal introductory book for new plastics engineers and students of plastics engineering Provides a convenient reference for more experienced practitioners

Design and Manufacturing of Plastics Products: Integrating Conventional Methods and Innovative Technologies brings together detailed information on design, materials selection, properties, manufacturing, and the performance of plastic products, incorporating the utilization of the latest novel techniques and additive manufacturing technologies. The book integrates the design of molded products and conventional manufacturing and molding techniques with recent additive manufacturing techniques to produce performant products and cost-effective tools. Key areas of innovation are explained in detail, including hybrid molds, the integration of processing options with product properties and performance, and sustainability factors such as eco-design strategies, recycling, and lifecycle assessment. Other sections cover the development of plastics products, including design methodologies, design solutions specific to plastics, and design for re-use, as well as manufacturing and performance, with an emphasis on thermoplastic molding techniques, recent advances on plastics tooling, and the appraisal of the influence of processing options on product performance. This is a valuable resource to plastics engineers, design engineers, mold makers, and product or part designers across industries. It will also be of interest to researchers and advanced students in plastics engineering, polymer science, additive manufacturing and mechanical engineering. Offers a thorough grounding in plastics part design, thermoplastic material selection, properties, manufacture and performance of plastic parts Presents the latest advances, including the integration of additive manufacturing in the plastics product development cycle, hybrid molds, and lifecycle and recycling considerations Enables the reader to utilize traditional methods alongside cutting-edge technologies in the production of performant plastic products and parts

Tooling, molding, secondary operations, material selection, evaluation and testing, design, project management, costing, value engineering, international supplier management and enhancement, and more: this book provides a broad insight from the author’s over 40 years of experience in the plastics industry. Aimed at both technical and non-technical personnel involved with plastic product design and manufacturing, this book shows how having the big picture leads to effective solutions and high-quality products. Numerous case studies of product failures exemplify the key concepts. The reader will benefit from the author’s unique depth and breadth of knowledge and experience as a team manager and hands-on contributor in all aspects of plastics, involving extremely robust, mission-critical products. Judicious attention to fundamental engineering principles is always at the foundation but “people issues” are also brought into focus from the author’s background as a long-time international trainer and Six Sigma expert. The book is therefore an essence of all the experience gained along the way: the good, the bad, and the ugly. This book is unique among the many other fine books available in this subject area in that it is the perspective of one who has been in the trenches—as opposed to an academician, scientist, or other professional from a field with narrower scope, such as material science, tooling, or manufacturing. Hence, the HOLISTIC APPROACH. Contents: • Causes of Plastics Failure • The Holistic Approach • Plastic Materials • Design • Tooling Considerations • Processing • Secondary Operations • Part and Tool Costs • Six Sigma Techniques in Plastics • Further Reading and Reference Material With forewords by Glenn Beall, Louis Maresca, and Joe McFadden.

Emerging Trends in Medical Plastic Engineering and Manufacturing gives engineers and materials scientists working in the field detailed insights into upcoming technologies in medical polymers. While plastic manufacturing combines the possibility of mass production and wide design variability, there are still opportunities within the plastic engineering field which have not been fully adopted in the medical industry. In addition, there are numerous additional challenges related to the development of products for this industry, such as ensuring tolerance to disinfection, biocompatibility, selecting compliant additives for processing, and more. This book enables product designers, polymer processing engineers, and manufacturing engineers to take advantage of the numerous upcoming developments in medical plastics, such as autoregulated volume-correction to achieve zero defect production or the development of ‘intelligent’ single use plastic products, and methods for sterile manufacturing which reduce the need for subsequent sterilization processes. Finally, as medical devices get smaller, the book discusses the challenges posed by miniaturization for injection molders, how to respond to these challenges, and the rapidly advancing prototyping technologies. Provides a roadmap to the emerging technologies for polymers in the medical device industry, including coverage of ‘intelligent’ single use products, personalized medical devices, and the integration of manufacturing steps to improve workflows Helps engineers in the biomedical and medical devices industries to navigate and anticipate the special requirements of this field with relation to biocompatibility, sterilization methods, and government regulations Presents tactics readers can use to take advantage of rapid prototyping technologies, such as 3D printing, to reduce defects in production and develop products that enable entirely new treatment possibilities