Material Science

Material Science

Material Science is the science of structure, properties, processing, and performance of materials.

Material Answers conducts projects encompassing all aspects of material science and engineering. We have experience with all major classes of materials: metals, polymers, ceramics, glasses, and semiconductors.

Selected Projects

Optimization of Ductility in Polyethylene/Rubber Blends

A blend of polyethylene and ethylene-propylene rubber was being developed for an automotive application. The blended resin exhibited erratic mechanical properties associated with instabilities in the compounding process.

Quality in Ceramic Injection Molding

A ceramic injection molder experienced inconsistency in the mechanical properties of parts molded from different cavities in the same mold. Rheological testing of the ceramic paste being molded resulted in the discovery of substantial wall-slip during flow through small channels such as those in the mold. Dependence of the wall-slip velocity on material and process parameters was measured using capillary rheometry and modeled mathematically. This enabled a more precise balancing of the mold design and eliminated the part inconsistencies.