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Alumni in the spotlight
Smart blending could revolutionize
plastics manufacturing
 A
new “smart blending” process developed by Clemson University
researchers could change the way plastics are made and improve their
performance. Early results published in Polymer Engineering and
Science have already drawn interest from European and American plastics
manufacturers. Dave Zumbrunnen, the Warren H. Owen-Duke Energy professor
of mechanical engineering, who heads the Clemson research team,
said smart blending could bring plastics production into the 21st
century.
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Dave Zumbrunnen (standing) leads a focus
on “smart blending,” which could bring plastics
production into the 21st century.
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“Most
people would be surprised to learn that many plastics are not optimized
for their intended use due to limitations of existing manufacturing
equipment,” he said. With a smart-blending machine, however,
engineers can optimize the material for maximum effectiveness with
only a few strokes on a computer keyboard. Many plastics are mixtures
of two or more plastics and additives. Smart blending arranges these
plastics into functional internal shapes as small as 1/10,0000th
the diameter of a hair.
That’simportant
because those small-scale structures determine the attributes, or
properties, of the composite. Smart blending produces plastics that
are tougher, electrically conductive, porous, or whatever is needed
for the particular end-product, but without expensive trial and
error.
Zumbrunnen,
a recipient of the Presidential Faculty Fellow Award from The White
House, was a recent participant in the National Academy of Engineering’s
prestigious Frontiers of Engineering symposium.
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