Engineering Commons^™

Optimized Pi Compound Mixing Strategy, Cecilia Mainzer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The project focuses on developing an optimal mixing strategy for a polyisoprene (PI) compound at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The aim is to optimize performance objectives of the compound. The project involved research, design iterations, mixing analyses, and performance evaluations, while adhering to engineering codes and standards.

The design process includes analyzing differences between two mixing technologies, intermesh and tangential rotors; altering mixing conditions; and exploring additional polymer systems and coupling technology of the compound.

Validation data confirms that the mixing technology and compound recipe meets all success metrics, including stiffness, hysteresis, adhesion, cure rate, and tear performance …

Degradable Staples And Delivery Device, Meha Elango, Jessica Cabrera, Makayla Scarpitti, Kareemat Melaiye

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The scope of this project is to design a method to secure skin grafts to healthy tissue. The ultimate goal for the proposed method is to be dissolvable in some form. Currently, skin grafts procedures utilize staples in most cases to hold a skin graft in place, but there are disadvantages that come with it. Staples are easy to place, but time consuming during the removal procedure. They also cause a lot of pain and discomfort for the patient. The goal of this project is to determine a way a secure skin grafts to healthy skin in order to reduce …

The Effects Of Relative Humidity And Valency On Water Absorption And Structure In Polyelectrolyte Brushes, Andrea Klima

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to understand the relationship between relative humidity, ion valency, and the structure of water on positively (PMETAC) and negatively (PSPMA) charged polyelectrolyte brushes. The polyelectrolyte brushes were synthesized using Activators Regenerated by Electron Transfer Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ARGET ATRP) and were soaked in concentrations containing 0.1 M of the target counterion. The brushes were then exposed to humid vapor, and spectra were collected in 5% intervals between 0% and 85% for each counterion. Two trials were completed for each counterion studied to ensure agreement between datasets. In all spectra, peaks appeared for the …

Schaeffler Icvd Coating Machine, Louis Mcgrath

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is mutual technology used to deposit thin film through a gaseous phase by vaporizing the solid materials. This conventional process usually requires high thermal stability of the materials, which is not applicable for most of the polymeric materials. Therefore, a novel process, initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) is developed by introducing the gaseous monument and initiator to form the thin film in-situ. By adjusting the free-radical polymerization in the vapor phase, a variety of thin and uniform polymer films can be achieved. Depending on the chemistry, iCVD has many categories. This report explains the design …