Laboratory Resources

• A two component adhesive dispensing or mini-RIM machine, designed and built in our laboratories - computer closed loop precision control of dispensing of one or two reactant streams, hydraulic drive + Vickers flow control valves, 83cc per stream capacity up to 400 bar pressure; PC + Biodata Microlink interface (IEEE488 parallel data link) for monitoring and control signals, using C code software.

Other facilities housed outside the Polymer Engineering Laboratory, but closely associated

(joint with Prof A F Johnson; all reactive processing equipment now housed at the IRC Laboratories, Leeds University)

• RIM/SRIM:(i) Computer controlled and monitored four reactant stream Reaction Injection Moulding/ Structural Reaction Injection Moulding facility, designed in-house by a team led by Prof Coates; injection rates up to ~ 4.5kg/s; two streams capable of high temperature (to 140C), two streams up to 40C; precision computer control of hydraulic  drives; 20 tonne 1.6m x 0.8m press; three Krauss Maffei MK16 4KF filled reactant 4 stream mixheads; Battenfeld high temperature 2 stream mixhead; 900mm x 400mm x 3mm edge gated plaque tool, 500mm diameter x variable cavity depth centre gated tool; replaceable cavity insert end gated long flow path tool; Zone 2 sparkproof laboratory, flameproof extraction; PCs with Biodata Microlink modular interfaces; monitoring of injection lance displacement, pressure, in-mould T's and P's.

• Krauss Maffei high temperature two stream machine, with high temperature mixhead and 100 tonne mould press (donated by Shell Research, Amsterdam)

• REX: APV MP2030 corotating twin screw extruder f 30mm screws, 40:1 L/D, clam-shell barrel and four 'barrel valve' restrictors, Olivetti 386/25e 80386 PCs with Biodata Microlink modular interface; monitoring of machine T's, melt P's, melt T's, screw torque; with KTron computer controlled modular loss-in-weight feeder and precision piston displacement pumping liquid feed; in-line rheological die with replaceable inserts, 2.4m water bath + integral hauloff/pelletiser; flameproof extraction.

IRC in POLYMER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

In addition to the IRC polymer processing laboratory here at Bradford, the considerable resources of the IRC in Polymer Science & Technology are available to the group. These include a wide range of equipment for physical characterisation of polymers and polymer composites at Leeds University (including fibre orientation distribution, impact testing, mechanical and dynamic mechanical, rheological and electronic properties, DMTA, DMA, DSC, GPC, X-ray, Raman spectroscopy, rotational and extensional rheometers) There are also computer controlled polymerisation reactors and associated equipment (Prof AF Johnson) which form part of the facilities used in the polymer-related research; polymerisation / physical /chemical characterisation are undertaken at Durham University (including solid state nmr, light scattering).

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