Talk-Polywell.org

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http://www.designnews.com/file/1026-DNX ... illips.pdf

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It would be interesting to know what temperature the injection molding part is done at as well as the size of the ceramic particles one starts out with.

This is certainly not a replacement for conventional ceramic for all applications, but is useful (and low cost) for certain applications.

MSimon wrote:*

http://www.designnews.com/file/1026-DNX ... illips.pdf

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I wonder if there would be any outgassing from the polymer component if the ceramic part made by this process is used in a high vacuum application.

Understanding devolatilization of the ceramic substrate requires knowledge of phase equilibria. Scary terms such as fugacity, gibbs free energy, and chemical potential pop up in these realms. And then comes the laws of thermodynamics and properties of each species present.

How do these ceramic structures relate to the Polywell concept? Would they be used for heat exchangers and transport conduits?

Thermoplastics are a class of polymers that lend themselves well to extrusion. One common thermoplastic is polypropylene. The operating temperature for polypropylene extrusion is between 195 and 210*C even though the melting point of polypropylene is around 165*C (of course this depends on the tacticity of the polymer chain). There are other common thermoplastics. A few of these include polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. According to Wikipedia, polyethylene has a melting point around 130*C, polystyrene has melting point of 240*C , and polyethylene terephthalate has a melting point of 260*C.

There is another class of polymers called thermoset resins. These do not have a melting point, but instead degrade when heated (rather than be extrudeable). In this class are polymers such as rubbers and epoxies.

There is another class of polymers that must be processed chemically with a solvent. In this class are polymers such as poly paraphenylene terephthalamide (Kevlar), and some polyesters.