Polymer and Composite Technology 7.5 credits

The polymers are so deeply entrenched in our day-to-day life that it is hard to imagine a life without them. This course has been designed to provide a polymer material science background to engineering students. The contents of the course are meticulously tailored to meet industrial challenges such as material design, product design, sustainability, processing, and optimization of the products. The course includes the following elements: • The study of polymeric structures and their relationship with the physical, mechanical, chemical, and processing properties of the polymer. The structural properties of polymer play a fundamental role in ascertaining many physical and chemical properties. Properties such as density, stiffness, ductility, strength, melting points, glass-transition temperature, etc. are related to the molecular structure, degree of crystallinity, and cross-linking. The course includes a thorough understanding of molecular architecture and how by harnessing molecular structure the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties can be tailored. • Composite materials are replacing traditional materials in many structural applications. Primarily automotive and aerospace applications of polymer-based composite materials have drastically surge research and development activities. In this part, we will learn polymer-based composites, their types, mechanics, manufacturing, and applications. • Polymeric materials are touching our everyday life. Besides their outstanding properties, ease of manufacturing is one of the qualities which makes their widespread use possible. In this course we will discuss the four building blocks of manufacturing which are given below: **Materials:** the significance of material selection and its role in terms of cost, processing, performance, and environment. **Product Design:** In this part, we will study how a designer must design a product to satisfy the functional, structural, processing, environmental, cost, and aesthetic requirements. **Mold Design and Machining:** The mold design is perhaps the most critical part of manufacturing. In this part, we will learn the fundamentals of mold design and the ways to minimize manufacturing cost by redesigning the products to optimize the time, material, energy, and functionality of the product. **Process:** The mechanical properties are significantly affected by the process variable, such as temperature, pressure, viscosity, additives, and molding conditions. In this part, we will learn the correlation between different processing parameters and their effects on properties.