IET 307 / 307L

Materials Science
SPRING 2015
Shane Holbrook
Instructor: Dr. Hans Chapman
Department of Applied Engineering and Technology
College of Science and Technology
Morehead State University

LAB 4 Assignment (Individual Activity)

Ceramics, Polymers and Composite Materials

Section 1: Composite Materials

Figure 1 Shows a printed circuit board for a computer

When speaking of composites in relation to electronic products, its hard to address the
issue without first discussing one of the first that comes to everyones mind. That product is
PCB, or Printed Circuit Board. A product that is used in computers, robotics, radios, and almost
any form of electronics you could imagine. PCB can be comprised of different materials, two of
the more common are: glass fiber reinforced (fiberglass) epoxy resin with a copper foil bonded
on to one or both sides. The other is typically made from paper reinforced phenolic resin with a
bonded copper foil. On both the contact fingers are usually coated with a layer of tin-lead to
prevent oxidation, and then plated with nickel, and gold for conductivity. By using the glass it
acts as a semiconductor, where the copper, nickel, and gold are for conductivity of electrical
charges. Finally the tin-lead, prevents any oxidation that could occur.
In the telecommunications industry, they are constantly looking for high dielectric
constant and low loss microwave substrates. To solve this, a good approach would be a barium

titanate/ABS composite. This is a composite made of: Thermoplastic ABS, barium titanate,
copper powder, carbon black powder, fiber fillers of carbon fibers, and stainless steel fibers. The
reason for the thermoplastic ABS is due in part of its strength, durability, processability, and
similarity to the material traditionally used in the FDM process. The overall goal of this
composite is to increase its use in electromagnetic crystals and microwave devices.

Figure 2 heat sink

Another issue with electronics, specifically computers is unwanted heat. Researchers

from the University of California at Riverside claim, They have developed a new thermal
interface material that could efficiently remove unwanted heat from electronic components.
Typically heat thermal interface materials, or TIMs, are used between a heat source, and a heat
sink. There principal purpose is to cool down devices. TIMs are typically filled with thermally
1 1
conducting metal particles and have thermal conductivities in a range of 15 W m K
at

room temperatures. With the integration of layers of graphene, an epoxy-resin-base, and filler
particles of carbon-based material in the epoxy, It creates quite a difference in thermal
1

conductivities of about 25 W m K

. This is just a slight chance in materials, however the

effects are obviously drastically different. The purpose for the graphene replacement is to better
carry away heat due to its properties of large room-temperature thermal conductivities that lie in

a range of 20005000 W m K

. These numbers are actually higher than diamond, the best

bulk-crystal heat conductor known.

Section 2: Polymeric Materials and Injection Molding

Figure 3 Injection molding process

Injection molding is a process used with plastics, and is often similar to some metal
forming processes, in which pellets are melted and put into a mold in order to make shapes in
forms of molds/casts. The advantage of injection molding is listed in the Handbook of
Engineering Polymeric Materials as, Offering the advantage of rapid processing into complex
shapes. The process is done by taking the polymer and feeding it through a hopper, then it
travels into a heated barrel in which it begins to soften and become a viscous melt. From this
point it is forced with high pressure into a cold mold cavity where the polymer has time to
solidify. The mold finally is opened and ejected, in which it can then be repeated. This process is

great for manufacturing considering its speed/rate of repeatability. This process is also beneficial
considering the time that is saved on not having to fabricate each part by hand. The diagram
above Figure 3, shows a great example of the injection molding process. An example of a
machine that uses this technology is known as a Van Dorn Machine.

Figure 4 shows a typical 770 Van Dorn Machine

Some of the polymeric materials used typically for this type of process are: Polyethylene (PE),
polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic.

Work Cited
How Products Are Made. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Printed-Circuit-Board.html
Graphene-based composites could cool electronics. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2012/feb/20/graphene-based-composites-could-coolelectronics
MOULART, A., MARRETT, C., & COLTON, J. (2004). Polymeric Composites for Use in
Electronic and Microwave Devices. POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, 44(3), 588597.
Printed circuit board. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board
(n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.expresspcb.com/GSpecs/PhotoProductionPCB_LF_800.jpg
Cheremisinoff, N. (1997). Handbook of engineering polymeric materials. New York: Marcel
Dekker.
Vlachopou, J., & Strutt, D. (2003). Polymer Processing. Materials Science and Techn, 19, 11611169.
(n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from http://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?
w=&h=&cache=cache&media=polymer_injection_molding.png
(n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.thebranfordgroup.com/Sales/RUBB1108/Gallery/images/Van Dorn 700 HP-80-2

injection molding machine.jpg