Make An Impact In Plastics With NPL's New Project

The UK National Physical Laboratory has begun a 2nd phase of DTI-funded research, looking at predicting the performance of plastic materials under impact loading.

The work will support the use of finite element analysis for predicting impact performance in product design, thereby reducing trial and error, and hence product costs and times to market.

Achieving confidence in the accuracy of predictions is important for the use of plastics in many safety-critical applications and should also have much broader design implications.

NPL's partners in the new project currently include polymer research and test laboratory, Rapra Technology, automotive manufacturer, Land Rover, and consulting engineers, Ove Arup.

NPL's new three-year research award follows on from its previously successful work in plastics impact prediction.

The new research will be largely undertaken at NPL laboratories in Teddington, and will: - evaluate materials models that describe the inherent non-linear and rate dependent properties of different polymers - develop and standardise test methods for the measurement and analysis of data required by the models - establish new methods to determine the failure properties of tough plastics.

Test methods and new specimen geometries will also be developed to characterise the failure behaviour of these materials, so that limits in the deformation and energy absorption of a component can be predicted in the design process.

The principal aim, says NPL project leader Greg Dean, is to show how finite element analysis (FEA) can be successfully used to predict the behaviour of plastics under impact loading.

Designers using FEA packages such as Abacus, Oasys, and others will be immediately interested in the project outputs.

Experimental results and the work on testing protocols will also impact upon the materials suppliers e.g to the automotive industry, and their customers.

One such UK manufacturer is already closely involved in the work.

Land Rover will be supplying side door automotive interior trim panels to the project, from which test specimens will be cut.

NPL is also seeking further industrial participants to join the project's Industrial Advisory Group.

The intention is to involve a broad cross-section of industry.

Sectors such as automotive, aerospace and other mass transit industries clearly have an in-built interest in the impact behaviour of plastics.

But impact performance has much wider implications, and its accurate prediction could also benefit sectors such as construction, packaging, sports, and healthcare.

Interested industrial parties also have the opportunity to benefit more directly from the results of the new project by working directly with NPL on a related 'studio project'.

These smaller ventures, which attract 50% DTI funding, may evaluate specific materials or product types, and they are established in conjunction with the NPL team.

Interested parties may apply to NPL to join the project's Industrial Advisory Group, which meets once every six months to review progress.

Inputs from companies from outside the automotive sector would be particularly appreciated.

Further details of the project - Design with plastics under impact loading - are available from Greg Dean at NPL.

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