Asee peer logo

Using Mechanical Testing of Disposable Plastic Cups to Illustrate Processing-Structure-Property Relationships in an Introductory Materials Laboratory Course

Download Paper |

Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Materials Division Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Materials

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/p.27150

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/27150

Download Count

3576

Paper Authors

biography

Kendra A. Erk Purdue University

visit author page

Kendra Erk is an Assistant Professor in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

visit author page

biography

Jerome Jamal Nash Purdue University

visit author page

Jerome Nash is a graduate student in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University.

visit author page

biography

Hannah K. Woods Purdue University

visit author page

Hannah Woods is an undergraduate student in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

A hands-on activity was implemented in a sophomore-level materials engineering laboratory to illustrate how the structure and properties of polymeric materials are directly influenced by the method of processing. The mechanical properties of specimens cut from the walls of poly(ethylene terephthalate) cups, oriented parallel and perpendicular to the thermoforming direction, were measured in tension. The parallel sample displayed greater elastic moduli, yield stress, and predominantly ductile deformation behavior compared to the relatively weaker and more brittle perpendicular sample. This observed mechanical anisotropy was related to the processing-induced orientation of polymer molecules within the cup. Students’ learning outcomes were assessed and it was found that processing-structure-property relationships were communicated most effectively by encouraging the students to describe their ideas through molecular-scale sketches and further challenging them to design their own hypothesis-driven experiments as compared to a traditionally prescribed lab activity.

Erk, K. A., & Nash, J. J., & Woods, H. K. (2016, June), Using Mechanical Testing of Disposable Plastic Cups to Illustrate Processing-Structure-Property Relationships in an Introductory Materials Laboratory Course Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.27150

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2016 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015