Polymer Processing: Principles and Design

Polymer Processing: Principles and Design presents the background required to design processes for thermoplastics. Often engineers are hired by the polymer industry to develop and design processes for thermoplastics, to design polymer processing machinery, to develop processes for new polymers, and to optimize existing processes. However, at best, they receive only a little training in polymer science and no training in the design of polymer processes. This book emphasizes the fundamental concepts that allow the student and the practicing engineer to carry out practical design decisions. While most books leave the student with equations only, Polymer Processing: Principles and Design provides the numerical methods required to solve the equations using the personal computer and easy-to-use IMSL numerical subroutines, and ensures a solid foundation in the principles underlying the design of polymer processing techniques.

Donald G. Baird earned his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974. He is currently the Harry C. Wyatt Professor of Chemical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His research is primarily concerned with the application of transport phenomena and rheology to the processing of polymer systems, particularly the rheology and processing of liquid crystalline polymers and their blends with thermoplastics. Dr. Baird has published over 150 papers and holds several patents pertaining to the generation and processing of microcomposites based on liquid crystalline polymers and thermoplastics.

Dimitris I. Collias works in the materials science section of corporate packaging development at Procter & Gamble Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Collias is a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the Society of Rheology. His professional career includes five years of advisory and management experience in Greece with the government of Greece and private organizations, and two years of postdoctoral experience at the Polymer Processing Laboratory at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Dr. Collias earned his MS and PhD degrees from Princeton University.