Course Description

Instructor: Dr. David Rhoades

Fee: $1,600

Offerings

Click the date link to register for that course section.

Register for july 21–23

Educational Goals

Basic polymer fundamentals will be taught with a strong correlation to structure property relationships. Fundamentals include homopolymers, copolymers, morphology, molecular weight, and viscosity. Structure property relationships based on polymer chemistry (in a non-intimidating way!) will focus on “why” the materials perform like they do. Materials and topics included commodity, engineering, and high-performance materials. Polymer fundamentals will be incorporated into a product selection process and failure analysis.

Who Should Attend

Product developers, design engineers, technical managers, technicians, and manufacturing engineers can benefit from a technical understanding of polymer systems. Good for those who may want to increase or refresh their polymer chemistry understanding but can also be beneficial for want to be exposed to polymer chemistry for the first time.

Course Outline

  1. Polymer Basics
    • Homopolymers, copolymers
    • Morphology – amorphous, semi-crystalline
    • Molecular weight
    • Viscosity
    • Viscoelasticity behavior
  2. Structure Property Relationships: What and Why
    • Polymer chemistry basics
    • Commodity resins
      • Polyethylene
      • Polypropylenes
      • Polystyrene
      • PVC
    • Engineering Resins
      • Polycarbonate
      • Polyesters
      • Polyamides
      • Acrylics
      • Acetals
      • Styrenics
    • Advanced Polymers
      • Polysulfones
      • Polyetherimides
      • Polyetheretherketones (PEEK)
    • Liquid Silicone Resins
    • Product Selection
    • Failure Analysis
    • Test methods, QC/QA