Project No Drip

Final Presentation

Jacqueline Greene
Michele Dufalla
Tania Chan
May 17, 2007
 Objective

+
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1168596/2/istockphoto_1168596
_plastic_can_container.jpg
, http://www.baproducts.com/spigot.jpg
 Project Overview: Low Cost
Water Tap

•2 to 3 million children under

5 years old die of diarrhea
diseases each year resulting
18 Countries in Africa from water contamination

•Safe water system for water

sanitation

3 Countries in South America

•Low cost water dispenser
12 Countries in Asia
for use with a variety of
storage canisters
2 Countries in Central America

http://www.cdc.gov/safewater/about_pages/about_where.htm
 Project Overview: Plastic Welding

Solution:
Simple low cost polyethylene tap and tubing

Focus of our project:

Heat welding as a method to join polyethylene tap and
tubing to polyethylene containers

http://www.cooking.com/images/products/shprodde/743196.jpg,
http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/images/pages/SC581/plastic%20bag.JPG
 Sample preparation
 temperature1/8” thick HDPE plastic sheets (McMaster) were cut in
1x6 in strips, while LDPE plastic film was cut into 1x3in pieces.
 Samples were welded together with a clothes iron at a constant
setting, pressed together and allowed to cool at room temperature
 Shear samples were prepared by heating two HDPE substrates,
and layering up to 4 pieces of LDPE film with the iron, and heating
them together with the iron.
 Peel samples were prepared by heating 1 LDPE film to an HDPE
substrate
 For select samples, disposable thermocouples were inserted into
the joint during the heating process and the change in temperature
was measured every 20 seconds. This experimental data was
compared to the cooling model.
 Shear Tests
1/8” HDPE

4 layers of
clear LDPE
film
(0.0006”) 3x1 in contact
area

1/8” HDPE
 Shear Tests
Date Sample Max Load (kN) Stress at Peak
(kPa)
4/2/07 Black LDPE (110-112°C) 0.226 117

4/2/07 Black LDPE (120-123°C) 1.357 701

4/2/07 Black LDPE (130-138°C) 0.056 29

4/2/07 Black LDPE (155-170°C) 0.354 274

4/2/07 Clear LDPE (155-165°C) 0.954 739

4/2/07 Clear LDPE (130-134°C) 0.250 129

4/2/07 Clear LDPE (115-122°C) 0.318 164

4/2/07 Clear LDPE (141-150°C) 0.238 123

4/2/07 Clear LDPE (165-180°C) 0.938 727

 Shear Tests
Date Sample Max Load (N) Stress at Peak
(kPa)
4/24/07 Bag LDPE – 1 514 398
(thermocouple)
4/24/07 Bag LDPE – 2 710 550
(thermocouple)
4/24/07 Bag LDPE – 5 958 742
(thermocouple)
4/24/07 African Bag 1513 1173

4/26/07 Preprocessed Black LDPE – 1341 1039

1 layer
4/26/07 Preprocessed Black LDPE – 559 433
2 layers
4/26/07 Preprocessed Black LDPE – 757 587
2 layers + thermocouple
5/1/07 Bag LDPE 85 66

5/1/07 Bag LDPE 410 318

 Mechanisms of failure
Fibrillar failure

NECKING Courtesy of Dr. Joseph Parse

Peel Tests
 Thermal Processing:
Molded LDPE

 Heated to 190ºC at 10ºC/minute. Left to

dwell for 20 minutes, then left to cool to
room temperature.
 Additional heating cycles at low
temperature does not disturb LDPE’s
welding properties
 Potential application for discarded
plastic bags
Water pressure testing

•Test the water sealing

properties of the LDPE “glue”

•Test the strength of the LDPE

“glue”
 Water pressure testing:
Results
Base Plastic Layer of LDPE Results
Film “Glue”
HDPE 4 Up to 50psi for
5 mins
LDPE 4 Up to 50psi for
5 mins
HDPE 2 Leakage
without
pressure
LDPE 0 Leakage
without
pressure
 DSC
 Preprocessed McMaster-Carr LDPE

Melting point ≈ 111ºC

 Preprocessed commercial LDPE 

No clear melting peak
 Modeling Heat
Conduction in HDPE
T  2T
Governing equation: c k 2 s
t x
= density, k = thermal conductivity,

c = specific heat, s = heat generation

Thermal Diffusivity: k

(Materials Parameter) c
Constant Heat Flux (q)

Boundary Conditions:
x=0 
At t = 0: T = T0 = 25oC

Semi Infinite Solid At x = 0: q

Polyethylene
At x = ∞: T|x = ∞ = T0 = 25oC
S = 0, no heat generation
x
 Finite Differences: 1-D
Heat Conduction
Modeling
T  T 2
Modified Governing Equation: 
t x 2
Ti,n 1  Ti,n T  2Ti,n  Ti1,n
Finite Differences Approximations:   i1,n
t x 2

Temperature (C)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
0

0.0005 0 sec
Polyethylene Thickness (m)

5 sec
10 sec
0.001 15 sec
20 sec
25 sec
0.0015
30 sec
35 sec
0.002 40 sec
45 sec
50 sec
0.0025 55 sec
60 sec

0.003
 Modeling Cooling at Weld
junction
0.125in=0.003175m
HDPE
LDPE 0.00735m
HDPE

Boundary Conditions:
•At x=0, x=L (L=0.00735m) the Temperature is set at 25ºC
•At x=0.003-0.004m (LDPE region) the Temperature is 120ºC at t=0

•HDPE and LDPE have slightly different thermal properties

 1-D explicit finite
differences model
k

c p
t
Fom  2
x
Ti ,n 1  (1  2 Fom)Ti ,n  Fom(Ti 1,n  Ti 1,n )
7 intervals HDPE data
delta t density
Fom k(W/mK) (sec) (kg/m^3) cp (J/kgK) delta x (m)
1.8253311
0.479893 0.64 3 960 2300 0.00105
center 2
intervals LDPE data
delta t density
Fom k(W/mK) (sec) (kg/m^3) cp (J/kgK) delta x (m)
0.302691 0.33 950 1900
POSITION
TIME 0 0.00105 0.0021 0.00315 0.0042 0.00525 0.0063 0.00735
0 25 25 25 130 130 25 25 25
98.2174240 75.3887
1.825331 25 25 75.38871293 1 98.21742401 1 25 25
49.181165 91.3073740 62.1628 49.1811
3.650662 25 6 62.16287463 6 91.30737406 7 7 25
43.806630 82.4855905 69.9192 43.8066
5.475993 25 3 69.9192766 5 82.48559055 8 3 25
47.312732 63.4184 47.3127
7.301325 25 6 63.41849327 78.6818779 78.6818779 9 3 25
44.334053 74.0617856 63.0142 44.3340
9.126656 25 3 63.01424333 9 74.06178569 4 5 25
44.020269 70.7177918 59.3513 44.0202
10.95199 25 2 59.35139293 4 70.71779184 9 7 25
42.249875 67.2772829 57.4487 42.2498
12.77732 25 9 57.44875122 1 67.27728291 5 8 25
 Polymer Mixing
Thermodynamics

 Solvent = solute in system, system has only 1 value of chemical potential for any mole fraction B


G are always
Two phases are always in equilibrium TS
H miscible
mix mix mix

Gmix  0


http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/doitpoms/tlplib/solid-solutions/free-energy.php
 Polymer Diffusion in
Melts at an interface
Polymer-polymer interdiffusion
proceeds in two stages

1. At time shorter than reptation time, the diffusion

process is explained by the reptation model 1

Diffusion scales: wt1/4

2. At time great than reptation time, the diffusion

process can be explained by continuum theories,
Fick’s Law

Diffusion scales: wMaterial

t1/2 1

Interface

Material 2
ourtesy of Dr. Joseph Parse
1. http://wwwcp.tphys.uni-heidelberg.de/Polymer/day3/p3-1.htm
 Conclusions about welding
of polyethlene
 water-tight seal between plastic
jerrycans and taps
 Requires low temperatures (120-180 ºC)
and a short time frame (~1 min to cool)
 Feasible option for installing water taps
due to availability and low-cost of
polyethylene through recycled plastic
bags to facilitate easier access to water
as well as prevent water contamination.
 Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank MIT
DMSE’s Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang, Prof.
David Roylance, Dr. Joseph Parse,
Dr. Yin-Lin Xie, Michael Tarkanian
and the rest of the 3.042 teaching
staff as well as the CMSE.