|
CASE STUDIES
The following case studies summarize various interesting, informative projects
that PELabs has undertaken over the past 20-plus years. These are excellent
examples of the breadth of experience and depth of knowledge our staff and
associates possess. They also illustrate how seamlessly PELabs meets each
client's needs at any stage in a product's lifecycle.
Instead of leaving you hanging with a summarized report that's ambiguous and
impractical, PELabs delivers useful data, informed answers, innovative
designs, and/or fully finished products that meet your specifications.
CREEP BUCKLING
Plastic paint containers that carry nearly 550 lbs in crush
testing fail after a day of sustained compression with half that load. This
case shows how an understanding of time-dependence in polymers can be used to
make a really hard problem a lot easier.
[ view case study ]
COLORANTS, CONTAMINANTS & KNIT LINES
When someone loads polypropylene into a
polyethylene silo, or the colorant vendor supplies pigment compounded with the
wrong carrier, bad things can happen.
[ view case study ]
SOLVENT CRACKING IN CPVC TANKS
A custom manufacturer of built-up plastic
structures discovered cracks around threaded inserts in flanges of a recently
fabricated CPVC tank. The immediate suspicion was too much interference
between the inserts and the holes drilled for them in the plastic. PELabs
engineers put together a thorough program that uncovered the real culprit: a
stress-cracking agent for CPVC in an adhesive supplied with the inserts
as-sold.
[ view case study ]
ACOUSTIC VIBRATIONS
The practice of blindly passing data through a software
analysis package can generate physically unreasonable results... if the
software's algorithm cannot handle a particular set of data. In the case at
hand, PELabs engineers developed a straight-forward methodology that allowed
these viscoelastic data to be successfully synthesized and used in analyzing
acoustic vibrations of an electronic device.
[ view case study ]
LIVING HINGES I
Getting the mold designed right for an integral hinge to
perform reliably, not only must it be designed properly, but the mold must also
be designed to avoid knit-lines along the hinge. This study illustrates what a
powerful tool flow software can be in the hands of a skilled engineer.
[ Please contact us to receive this Case Study. ]
LIVING HINGES II
Getting the mold built right There's more to reliable
integral hinge performance than good part design and careful mold design. The
mold must also be built to the design specification. This case study shows
that, where living hinges are concerned, the microscope does not lie.
[ Please contact us to receive this Case Study. ]
DESIGNING AGAINST IMPACT
When designing to meet an impact requirement, wise use
of finite element analysis can be very helpful. This point is illustrated well
by the snap example given here, where once again, a hairy problem is handled
successfully with a straight-forward approach.
[ Please contact us to receive this Case Study. ]
DEVELOPMENT OF HANDLES FOR COMMERCIAL BEVERAGE COOLER DOORS
Partnering with our
sister company The Plastics Group, PELabs has developed custom commercial
refrigerator handles for a number of beverage companies. The handles are
shaped like bottles or a cap - some distinctive feature of the product's
container that will bring to one's mind that particular beverage. This case
study steps through the development process of one such handle: from design
concepts, through CAD modeling, nitty-gritty mechanical design, prototyping,
testing and evaluation, design refinement, mold design and building, mold
sampling, assembly and secondary operations, first-article inspection and
evaluation, fine tuning, specification and production.
[ Please contact us to receive this Case Study. ]
SURVIVING THE AUTOCLAVE
These re-useable, utility medical clips were made from
polysulfone (PS) – known to survive hundreds of steam-sterilization cycles
without significant degradation – but the product began to fail in hospital
use. PELabs engineers demonstrated that, although PS shows very little
degradation of its physical properties during autoclave exposure when
unstressed, it goes to hell in the proverbial handbasket when stress and steam
are simultaneously applied. The associated study uncovers some viable
alternatives for use in products that are under stress when steam-sterilized.
[ Please contact us to receive this Case Study. ]
markets served ·
services ·
case studies ·
company profile
contact us ·
tech resources ·
glossary ·
did you know ·
what's new ·
product development
© 2003 Plastics Engineering Laboratories.
PELabs respects your privacy.
We will not share your information with any third party. Period.
Powered by media firma.
|
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}