Course syllabus

Course-PM

IMS125 Polymer engineering lp1 HT24 (7.5 hp)

IMS115 Polymer engineering lp1 HT24 (5 hp)

Importnat note: The course is identical in content with the 5 credit module C in the IMS115 Materials Engineering course. The difference is in the project work: IMS125 Polymer Engineering contains project work to account for additional 2.5 credits up to a total of 7.5 credits.

 

Contact details

• examiner
  • Roland Kádár (RK), Professor Dr., roland.kadar@chalmers.se

            for more details see www.rheo-chalmers.se 

• supplementary lecturers
  • Marko Bek (MB), Dr., Postdoctoral researcher, Marko.bek@chalmers.se 

• teaching assistants / lab instructors
  
  • Ases Akas Mishra​ (AAM), MSc, PhD student, ases@chalmers.se 
  • Kesavan Sekar (KS), MSc, PhD student, sekar@chalmers.se 
• guest lecturers (to be confirmed)
  • Dr. Thomas Gkourmpis, Senior Researcher, Borealis AB
  • Prof. Tiina Nypelö, Professor, Aalto University
  • Dr. Jinhua Sun, Associate Professor, Chalmers
  • Dr. Zhenyuan Xia, Senior Researcher, Chalmers

Course purpose

Polymeric materials remain extensively used in an increasing number of mainstream and advanced applications. Their outstanding versatility in terms of structure, processing and properties make polymeric materials, whether natural or synthetic, ubiquitous and essential for a great number of applications. Fundamental aspects of polymer structure, properties, processing and interrelation thereof is given in this course. The main focus is on thermoplastic polymers, however, rubbers, thermosets and composites are also discussed. A particular feature of the course is a focus on rheological properties, a key aspect for understanding the structure and processing behaviour of polymers. As manufacturing techniques extrusion and injection moulding are emphasised, alongside coating techniques and additive manufacturing. The treatment of the manufacturing processes is based on an in-depth description of the rheological properties of the polymer melts. Overall, the course is medium level polymeric materials course suitable introduction for further in-depth studies, for example within PhD programmes, and is also valuable towards materials engineering (applications) and material development.

Schedule

see the '2025 IMS125 Schedule overview' document in 'Modules' - 'General information'. Note the version number, some late changes are inevitable.

Course literature

Most of the topics are based on:

• [MBB] Principles of Polymer Engineering, N. G. McCrum, C. P. Buckley and C. B. Bucknall, 2nd edition, 1997, Oxford Science Publications, Oxford University Press, ISBN 19 856526 7  https://app.knovel.com/web/toc.v/cid:kpPPEE0023/viewerType:toc/root_slug:principles-polymer-engineering?kpromoter=federation (Links to an external site.)
• Materials Science of Polymers for Engineers by T.A. Osswald and G. Menges (MSPE), 3rd ed., 1997, Hanser Verlag - Chapter 6  http://app.knovel.com/web/toc.v/cid:kpMSPEE002/viewerType:toc/root_slug:material-science-polymers/url_slug:kt00C1W4Q1 (Links to an external site.)
• Principles of Polymer Processing by Z. Tadmor, C. G. Gogos, Wiley, 2006 (2nd ed.)

Handouts for the rheology part in the form of slides. There will be updates here too.

Live recordings from the previous year are also available.

Course design

The following activities are included in the course:

1. Lectures and tutorials
2. Labs (compulsory)
3. Project (compulsory)

3. Through the professional career of engineers and scientists, working both in industry and academia as well as other fields, preparing reports and presentations for different target audiences is a significant part of one’s work routine. You will face this many times: prepare an overview, grasp a developing area, summarize, sketch the background and present an easy-to-understand outline. The project work falls into such categories. Clearly, you will need to find sources (literature). You may ask your lecturer for a hint, but most likely you will decide to proceed on your own.

The project consists of preparing a video trailer of the project that will be premiered in the 'Project presentations' section of the course.

Groups of max 3-4 students will choose one topic to study. For examples of topics, see the list below, however, feel free to explore preferred subjects. More than one group can deal with a given topic. Let the examiner know which topic you have chosen as well as the members of your group.

The exposure of the general public to a large amount self-made multimedia video clips has exploded in the last decade through platforms such as youtube. For the scientists and engineers especially, the key is the realization of an effective and easy to understand video. This is not necessarily an easy task. The more specialized we get the more difficult it is for the general public to understand what we mean and what we are doing. A key skill that needs to be developed is thus to convert a complex scientific and engineering application into visual form. At the same time, the project aims to give you exposure to new forms of digital media and software, and finally, to have fun and be creative.

The video presentations should be regarded as a low level technical report, meaning that its main goal will be to explain your project to a non-specialized audience. You will premiere your video presentation summary during a presentations session (see the Schedule overview pdf). The video presentation should be not longer than 10 minutes.

Evaluation criteria:

• does the video trailer clearly describe the project for the intended audience?
• how do the project members respond to questions regarding their application?
• originality of the video
• accuracy of the content
• video realization quality.

Think freely, compromise and be positive to build up your application. Preferably form mixed international teams. The report carries max. 5p towards the 50p written examination, and must not be rejected.

Examples of topics (feel free to chose any other related topic of interest; original topics are of particular interest)

• Poly(lactid acid)- a polymer from renewable resources
• Liquid crystalline polymers-super polymers for today and tomorrow
• Thermoplastic elastomers-the end for natural rubber?
• Synthetic paper – worth bothering about?
• Sealing of bottles-cork or plastics?
• Bank notes- polymers or paper?
• Gas-assisted injection moulding
• Sandwich technology- making polymer components even lighter!
• Polymers containing grahphene- a new generation of composites?
• My favourite plastic!
• Airplanes: metallic or polymeric materials?
• Green composites in automotives

Groups must be formed and the topic chosen by [see the latest schedule slide]. Register the project by sending it to roland.kadar@chalmers.se by the deadline. Include a list of the group project members and the chosen topic. 

Note: depending on the number of students we aim to transfer the project work into actual lab work. More updates in the first lecture.

Changes made since the last occasion

Thermal characterization has been expanded considerably; scattering techniques are new and emphasize in particular synchrotron radiation experiments. Optical and electrical properties are also a new and timely addition.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

• understand the fundamental properties of polymeric materials.
• understand how material fundamental properties can be used through processing in order to obtain suitable properties
• acquire an overview of relevant processes for design with polymeric materials.

Examination form

All topics covered in the lectures and tutorials are included in the exam, with the exception of the guest lectures.

An example of past examination question papers (gammal tenta) with solutions will be available. The examination question paper will contain approximately 10 questions. Max score is 45 p. Points from project up to 5, are added, only for passing grades. Swedish grades will be issued as follows: 0-19p (fail); 20-29p (3); 30-39p (4); 40-50p (5).

Allowed into examination venue are mathematical tables and approved (by Chalmers) type calculators. For the first time in the history of the course, the exam will be digital using the online platform Inspera. The goal would be to speed up the exam correction process.