The LSR 2018 conference features 28 presentations about liquid silicone rubber technical and scientific developments plus live demonstrations of LSR processing, Sept. 11-13.
Discussions in Anaheim, Calif., in the conference's first two days will explore LSR-related materials and projected new LSR commercial uses in various markets.
Organizers highlighted several of the talks:
Mark Bonifacio will provide a macro look at the business of LSR focusing on end use health care and medical applications, the liquid injection molding process and recent business developments including mergers, acquisitions and consolidations. He is president of Bonifacio Consulting Services LLC in Natick, Mass.
Victor Morando will discuss problems with the traditional approach to designing products for advanced LSR molding and how changing the paradigm for designing with multimaterial yields may improve results. Morando is chief technology officer with molding solutions provider Dymotek Corp. of Ellington, Conn.
Thomas Wallin will talk about a demonstration that used thiol-ene photopolymerization and inexpensively modified hardware to print three-dimensional soft, stretchable silicone devices from a desktop 3D printer. Wallin received his doctorate in materials science and engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in 2018 and is pursuing industrial post-doctorate research in the Pacific Northwest.
Torsten Kruse will focus on continuous improvements in part and mold design and molding processes. Topics include computer-aided-engineering simulation, boundary-layer-mesh technology and heat balance inside a high-cavity LSR mold. He is president of Kruse Analysis Inc. of Naples, Fla., a partner with CoreTech System Co. Ltd.'s plastics simulation Moldex3D software.
Oliver Franssen will introduce LSR with an ultimate low-compression set for long-term heat exposure. He will discuss the data from six weeks of tests and provide a background about cascading heatage. Franssen is global marketing director for elastomers transportation applications with Momentive Performance Materials GmbH in Leverkusen, Germany, and a member of the LSR 2018 organizing committee.