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Light radiation cure adhesives, coatings and encapsulants are being used in the electronics manufacturing industry with increasing frequency because their properties and process advantages are a good fit for the manufacturing requirements which are demanded by current industry drivers, such as miniaturisation, environmental and health & safety demands, manufacturing yield improvement and total product cost. Light curing adhesive systems in the electronics manufacturing industry have found applications in strain relief, wire and parts tacking, coil terminating, tamper‐proofing, structural bonding, temporary masking, potting, encapsulation, glob topping, conformal coating, and surface mount component attachment. This paper describes three case histories where photo cure adhesives were introduced to an electronics manufacturing environment, and discusses their rationale, implementation and their economics. The case histories encompass printed circuit board assembly (including surface mount), electronics packaging and microelectronic encapsulation. Production managers and process engineers are given confidence that practical adhesive application can be clean, fast and economical.

Polymeric parts produced by 3D stereolithography (SL) process have poorer mechanical properties as compared to their counterparts fabricated via conventional methods, such as injection or compression molding. Adding nanofillers in the photopolymer resin for SL could help improve mechanical properties. This study aims to achieve enhancement in mechanical properties of parts fabricated by SL, for functional applications, by using well-dispersed nanofillers in the photopolymers, together with suitable post-processing.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have high strength and Young’s modulus, making them attractive nanofillers. However, dispersion of CNTs in photopolymer is a critical challenge, as they tend to agglomerate easily. Achieving good dispersion is crucial to improve the mechanical properties; thus, suitable dispersion mechanisms and processes are examined. Solvent exchange process was found to improve the dispersion of multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the photopolymer. The UV-absorbing nature of CNTs was also discovered to affect the curing properties. With suitable post processing, coupled with thermal curing, the mechanical properties of SL parts made from CNTs-filled resin improved significantly.

With the addition of 0.25 wt.% CNTs into the photopolymer, tensile stress and elongation of the 3D printed parts increased by 70 and 46 per cent, respectively. With the significant improvement, the achieved tensile strength is comparable to parts manufactured by conventional methods.

This allows functional parts to be manufactured using SL.

In this paper, an improved procedure to incorporate CNTs into the photopolymer was developed. Furthermore, because of strong UV-absorption nature of CNTs, curing properties of photopolymer and SL parts with and without CNT fillers were studied. Optimized curing parameters were determined and additional post-processing step for thermal curing was discovered as an essential step in order to further enhance the mechanical properties of SL composite parts.

Increasing interest in surface mount technology has led to a growth in the use of adhesives for attachment of SMDs. This paper reviews the properties of an adhesive which make it suitable for use in attachment of SMDs. Visibility, rheology and cure speed are of primary importance but the need for one‐part stable materials is stressed. The existing adhesives offered are generally based on epoxy or acrylic technology. Though these products are effective in attachment they have many features which make them less than ideal, e.g., mixing of multi‐component systems, high cure temperature, etc. One‐part acrylic anaerobic adhesives offer the benefit of low cure temperatures with good strength and product stability. Curing data, adhesive properties and cured polymer properties are reported for a new acrylic anaerobic adhesive which has been specifically designed for attachment of SMDs to substrates.

The performance of epoxy coating on metal substrate at low temperature and high humidity application has adverse effect on cure rate, film properties and adhesion. In recent years, several advanced amine cross-linking agents having superior curing ability at low temperature application environment have been introduced. The aim of this paper is to study the properties of epoxy-based coating cured with different cross-linking agents designed for low temperature application at different environmental conditions.

Series of cross linking agents such as modified cycloaliphatic amine (H1), polyamine adduct (H2), modified aliphatic ketamine (H3), phenalkamine (H4) and phenalkamide (H5) have been studied to evaluate their performance in epoxy compositions when cured at four environmental conditions, i.e. at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures with 60 and 90 per cent relative humidity, respectively. The effect of curing conditions was investigated by evaluating different physico-mechanical properties. Dynamic mechanical analyser technique was used to determine glass transition temperature (T_g) and cross-link density (ρ) of coatings. Anticorrosive properties of coatings also have been studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

The outcome of this study is expected to generate new insight into the curing behaviour of epoxy coating using different cross-linking agents which are recommended for low temperature application. Optimum physico-mechanical and corrosion resistance properties have been obtained by phenalkamine curing agent at low temperature and high humidity condition.

This study is an experimental approach to select the better cross-linking agent for low temperature application. Different test conditions were measured for understanding the performance of epoxy coating cured at different environmental condition.

The understanding reaction mechanism of the epoxy resin with cross-linking agent at different environmental condition is the great challenge and is hardly investigated in the literature. Therefore, in this research, the influence of climatic conditions and type of cross-linking agents on curing behaviour of epoxy-based coating was investigated.

Glycidyl terminated rigid‐rod monomers can be cured in a liquid crystalline state. The resulting thermoset offers high potential as protective coating thanks to its outstanding properties. In particular a superior fracture toughness and a reduced internal stress are two typical parameters offered by this new class of compounds. Transport properties are not strongly affected by the state of order of the cross‐linked resin, in the sense that gas permeabilities are of the same order of magnitude of conventional epoxy resins.

THE advent of the integral fuel tank over twenty years ago presented considerable sealing problems, due to both deficiencies in design and lack of suitable sealing compounds.

Although cure of paint coatings by radiation is no new phenomenon, there is considerable increased interest in development of industrial processes using radiation curing for a variety of reasons. Before studying the developments in detail, it is worth noting that radiated energy can basically be divided into two categories. In the first category we have ionising radiation which for our purposes includes electromagnetic radiation of wave lengths less than visible light and also accelerated electrons. In the second category is radiation, which is essentially thermal in its effect ranging from infra red through to microwave and radio frequency. The use of these longer wave length radiations, whose effect is essentially thermal, will not be discussed in detail since all coatings which can be cured in normal high temperature ovens are basically capable of cure with such methods. It is worth noting however, that improvement in the design of infra red lamps with peak radiation in the near infra red at around 1200 nanometers has led to speed up in infra red curing which has been particularly useful in cure of alkyd‐amino finishes on heat sensitive substrates such as wood. There is also developing interest in high frequency long wave length radiation, particularly in the area usually referred to as microwave. Here we have penetrative radiation which produces heat effects by what is sometimes referred to as molecular friction. The conversion of the microwave energy into heat depends on the loss factor of the material in question and so the process is most efficient with polar materials such as water. The most likely use of microwave heating is with water based coatings on substrates which will not themselves heat up rapidly, such as non‐polar plastic films.

This paper explores and elaborates on emotions and capability in organizations through the phenomenon of care. Drawing upon multi-disciplinary theory, as well as empirical material from a case study in the hotel industry (involving four organizations), a theoretical framework is offered for understanding the multidimensional, dynamic, social relational nature and role of care in organizations. This is shown through the suggestion of a conceptual framework of four ideal types of practices in frontline work. In the practice of care, emotions are one of the vital parts in a larger whole. Regarding the role of care in organizations, it is suggested that what, and how, one cares for, are continually created, tested, negotiated and/or re-constructed. This paper suggests that the claims regarding care also provide implications for the study and understanding of emotions and capability in organizations.

The Protection of Consumers (Trade Descriptions) bill which, owing to the General Election, did not quite make the Statute Book in the last Parliament, is, at the moment of writing, passing through its readings, with every likelihood of becoming law in the near future. It has been criticised for the extent of the control to be exercised over general trading and that in “coddling the customer” it will place unreasonable responsibilities upon retailers. In fact, it is impossible to foresee just how far its provisions may extend, but there will be few who will disagree that new and more searching requirements are long overdue.

Epoxy resins were discovered almost simultaneously in Switzerland and the U.S.A. just before World War II. Initial work on epoxy resins was primarily aimed at their possible use in dentistry, an application which to date has never really been successful. However, the early work indicated that epoxy resin systems possessed a remarkable combination of properties including high strength, good adhesion and chemical resistance which has led to their use in a wide range of applications including paints, electrical insulation and also many uses in engineering industries, from very high performance construction adhesives in the aircraft industry to systems to improve the skid resistance of urban roads.