Michael Sepe - Page 7 of 12 | Plastics Technology

Michael Sepe Independent Consultant

Materials Know How 30 Aug 2017

Materials—Cycle Time: Science vs. Rules of Thumb—Part 3

To properly calculate cycle time, you need to understand how the modulus of a polymer increases as it cools in the mold.

best practices 25 Jul 2017

Materials: Cycle Time: Science vs. Rules of Thumb—Part 2

Understanding cooling—how a given material develops modulus as it solidifies—requires access to data that provides some insight into the relationship between modulus and temperature. Dynamic mechanical analysis is a helpful tool.

best practices 30 May 2017

Cycle Time: Science vs. Rules of Thumb, Part 1

What temperature must the polymer reach so the part can be ejected from the mold? Here, more than for any other variable, ‘rules of thumb’ unfortunately prevail.

Materials 25 Apr 2017

The Need for Generalists: Part 4

Solving problems generally requires distinguishing good samples from bad ones. But that can become clumsy when one person runs the test while another analyzes the data.

Materials Know How 24 Mar 2017

The Need for Generalists: Part 3

In failure analysis, there is a tendency to gravitate to a few common test protocols. But this approach can result in a mismatch of techniques to the problem.

Materials Know How 26 Jan 2017

The Need for Generalists, Part 2

Problem-solving requires a team that combines people having academic credentials with others who have hands-on experience.

Materials Know How 27 Dec 2016

The Need for Generalists: Part 1

Even companies with seemingly unlimited resources can have problems identifying root causes of problems. Maybe they have too many specialists and not enough generalists.

Materials Know How 23 Nov 2016

Finding Root Causes of a Material Problem

Tools and methods for determining oxidative stability can be useful, but even more useful if constructed to yield the information you really need.

polyolefins 18 Oct 2016

The Importance of Oxidative Stability in Polyolefins, Part 3

Tools and methods for determining oxidative stability can be useful, but even more useful if constructed to yield the information you really need.

best practices 27 Sep 2016

The Importance of Oxidative Stability In Polyolefins, Part 2

The DSC test can do a reasonably good job of capturing the comparative behavior of materials that use similar antioxidant chemistries.

Extrusion 22 Oct 2022

Understanding the ‘Science’ of Color

And as with all sciences, there are fundamentals that must be considered to do color right. Here’s a helpful start.

Commodity Resins 24 Aug 2016

MATERIALS: The Importance of Oxidative Stability in Polyolefins

Because oxidation is a process that causes materials to deteriorate over time, its effects or potential for those effects are not always apparent when new products are tested.