This book defines specialty elastomers as heat-, oil-, fuel-, and solvent-resistant polymers. Each chapter examines individual elastomers in terms of development history, chemical composition, structure, and properties as well as processing methods, applications, and commercially available products. Covering their applications in the rubber, energy, chemicals, and oil industries, the book also discusses the use of antioxidants, antiozonants, vulcanization agents, plasticizers, and process aids for specialty elastomers. The concluding chapter details considerations and relevant processes—such as molding operations—involved in designing application-specific rubber components.

Divided into five broad sections, the book first addresses the nature and extent of the problem by identifying access barriers, human factors, and policy issues focused on the existing infrastructure. The subsequent sections examine responses to the problem, beginning with tools for usability and accessibility analysis and principles of design for medical instrumentation. Building on this foundation, the third section focuses on recommendations for design guidelines while the fourth section explores emerging trends and future technologies for improving medical device usability. The final section outlines key challenges, knowledge gaps, and recommendations from accomplished experts in the field presented at the recent Workshop on Accessible Interfaces for Medical Instrumentation.

The text surveys theory, characterization, processing, and experimental aspects of phase morphology development and design of polymer blends. It examines the adhesion of polymer–polymer interfaces in immiscible polymer blends and the different ways by which nanostructures may be generated in thermosetting polymers. The book analyzes the polymerization process and the dynamic vulcanization of multicomponent polymer blends and the crystallization behavior occurring in blends with a confined morphology. It also discusses the structure–rheology relationship in compatibilized blends, the effects of elasticity on the structure development, and the rheological response in concentrated blends.

This book explains how surface forces acting at the three-phase contact line determine equilibrium, hysteresis contact angles, and all other equilibrium and kinetics features of liquids when in contact with solids or other immiscible liquids. It examines the interaction of surface forces, capillary forces, and properties of the transition zone between the bulk liquid (drop or meniscus) and solid substrate.

Detailing the kinetics of spreading over both porous and nonporous substrates, the book observes how surface forces remove “singularity” at the moving three-phase contact line in the latter. The authors introduce novel universal spreading laws that apply to the spreading over porous substrates, which were experimentally verified. They also investigate the influence of surfactants on kinetics of spreading over hydrophobic substrates, spontaneous imbibition into hydrophobic or partially hydrophilic porous bodies.

With applications that phenomenologically treat both static and dynamic rubber friction, the book offers practical guidance for implementing the unified theory in the analysis and design processes. The use of this theory enables comprehensive calculations of rubber friction, thereby offering opportunities to enhance public safety. While the theory applies to all elastomeric products where friction is an issue, the author primarily focuses on:

•          Analyzing friction in the design of rubber tires and their contacted pavements

•          The geometric design of roadways

•          Motor vehicle accident reconstruction

•          Analyzing slip resistance in the design of footwear and their contacted walking surfaces

The book draws on the author’s advanced research to provide a unique application of physical metallurgy to direct chill (DC) casting technology. He examines structure and defect formation— including macrosegregation and hot tearing. Each technology-centered chapter provides historical background before reviewing current developments. The author supports his conclusions with computer simulation results that have been correlated with highly progressive experimental data. He presents a logical system of structure and defect formation based on the specific features of the DC casting process. He also demonstrates that the seemingly controversial results reported in literature are, in fact, caused by the different ratio of the same mechanisms.

The handbook offers a unique combination of comprehensive chromatograms, mass spectral data, and analytical data in addition to environmental perspectives and regulations issued by the FDA, USEPA, EU agencies, and other groups. Unlike other resources that focus on the selection of performance-enhancing additives, this book provides the information and techniques needed to extract, identify, and quantify additives in finished goods using common and readily available laboratory techniques. This makes it an ideal reference for monitoring plastics for regulatory or internal compliance applications as well as for using analysis to troubleshoot, develop, or improve upon application-specific compounding practices and processes.

The author provides a straightforward overview of the functions and benefits of these systems and how they can assist with fire suppression, code enforcement, alarm response, and elevator rescue. The book’s comprehensive discussion of elevators, fire command centers, emergency generators and lighting, and HVAC systems sets it apart from other fire protection books currently available. The topics covered prepare emergency response personnel for the challenges they face working with fire protection systems, fire alarm systems, and elevators.

This unified volume explains the mechanistic basics of tactic polymerizations, beginning with an extensive survey of the most important classes of metallocene and post-metallocene catalysts used to make polypropylenes.  It also focuses on tactic stereoblock and ethylene/propylene copolymers and catalyst active site models, followed by chapters discussing the structure of more stereochemically complex polymers and polymerizations that proceed via non-vinyl-addition mechanisms.  Individual chapters thoroughly describe tactic polymerizations of α-olefins, styrene, dienes, acetylenes, lactides, epoxides, acrylates, and cyclic monomers, as well as cyclopolymerizations and ditactic structures, olefin/CO polymers, and metathesis polyalkenamers.