Study Guide

Objective

The participants are able to describe manufacturing techniques and are able to choose the most appropriate technique based on resource efficiency. The participants are able to run basic plastics processing devices and able to plan and execute trials. The participants are able to describe the effect of temperature and output on polymers’ rheology.

Content

The students familiarise themselves with typical plastics manufacturing techniques emphasizing resource efficiency and circular economies. The students learn to plan and execute processing trials of plastics. The students familiarize themselves with rheology of polymer melt.

Issues: plastics processing techniques, operating plastics processing devices, such as extruder, injection moulding machine and 3D-printer, rheology of polymer melt.
The course is mainly a laboratory course with strong connection to topical RDI-project.

Materials

Materials in Itslearning
Students gather their own material.

Teaching methods

Project based learning
Task based learning
Research
Literature study
Web based material

International connections

International studies
Team learning
Based on working-life needs
Project work

Completion alternatives

Individual plans can be discussed and agreed together with Liisa Lehtinen.

Student workload

The participants learn to use extruder and Injection moulding machines.
-The groups will manufacture test bars from plastic waste. Task includes following steps: working plan (Word), trial runs and test results (Excel) and report (PowerPoint).
-Test components for Selection of Materials course. Each group will manufacture at least 10 test bars and 10 meters filament for further testing.
-Rheology test with extruder

Content scheduling

Content:
Plastics prosessing tecnologies
Rheology
Injection moulding and extrusion runs in laboratory
Tensile testing.

If there are less than 10 participating students, the course will be organized as RDI-version. In that case the tasks will be connected to topical RDI-projects. Currently our projects are dealing with additive manufacturing (3D-prinitng) and degradation of biodegradable plastics.

Further information

The course will be held in English.
Prerequisites: 2 years in chemical engineering studies or similar know-how, such as 2 years work in laboratory environment or in technical field or advanced syllabus in mathematics, physics and chemistry

Evaluation scale

H-5