FOCUS t page 40 Conclusions Routine quality checks using the techniques described in this article reduce the likelihood or reoccurrence of product failure and its associated costs. Moisture analyzers can be used for the quality assurance of goods received and ejected molds. Moisture content is determined rapidly, and the compact instruments are easily situated close to production – for example, next to the conveyor belt on which molded parts are dropped. Moisture is, however, just one aspect of IPC or QC testing. Highperformance TA instruments provide broader and more precise quantitative information on the purity, glass transition, melting point, thermal stability and compositional analysis of materials. Knowledge of such properties is critical for failure analysis and process optimization. For example, the establishment of “pass-fail” criteria is not uncommon in the automobile industry to ensure batch material received from suppliers is indeed correct. In this case, DSC curves may be used as a fingerprint to identify materials. By checking the level of crystallinity and the magnitude of the glass transition of an injection-molded part, one can also measure the effects of cooling within the mold as a means to define optimum cooling conditions. n
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References
1. Bruder, U. (2015). The User’s Guide to Plastic. Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag. 2. Kunz, R. (2016). Market Analysis for Water Content Determination in Plastic Granulates. Zurich: University of Zurich 3. NobelPrize.org (2016). Retrieved 15 July 2016, from https://www.nobelprize. org/educational/chemistry/plastics/readmore.html. 4. Plastics Technology Online (2016). Retrieved 10 July 2016, from http://www. ptonline.com/knowledgecenter/Plastics-Drying/Resin-Types/HygroscopicVS-Non-Hygroscopic-Resins. 5. ASTM.org (2017). Retrieved 6 October 2017. 6. Wernecke, R. (2003). Industrielle Feuchtemessung. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. 7. METTLER TOLEDO (2014). Plastics Methods for HX204, https://www. mt.com/us/en/home/library/product-brochures/laboratory-weighing/05_ Moisture_Analyzer2/00_Family/05_Method_Collection/Plastics.html. 8. Lever T., Haines P., Rouquerol J., Charsley E.L., Van Eckeren P. and D.J. Burlett. (2014) ICTAC nomenclature of thermal analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2014), Pure Appl. Chem. 86(4): 545-553
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