Composite and Polymer Engineering Laboratory (CAPE Lab)

Facility AddresS:

SD Mines CAPE Lab
920 East Saint Patrick Street, Rapid City SD 57701

The CAPE lab contains twin screw and single screw extruders, an injection molding machine, a thermoforming machine, a 100 ton press, a Stratasys 3D printer, thermoplastic and thermoset pre-pregging machines, a (10 ft x 4ft) high temperature/high pressure autoclave, a high-output electrospinning machine, flow-through ultrasonication equipment for high-shear mixing, and a Sonotek ultrasonic coating system. The CAPE Lab also possesses a wide range of testing and characterization equipment, including a CEAST high-energy drop-tower impact tester, Charpy/Izod impact testers, MTS load frames (up to 250kN load), extensive thermal and rheological characterization equipment, and battery assembly and testing equipment.

Processing Equipment:

• Coperion Twin-Screw Extruder with K-Tron Gravimetric Feeders
• Randcastle Micro-extruder
• Haake Polylab Single Screw Extruder
• 2 Davis-Standard Single Screw Extruders
• Cincinnati Milacron Injection Molder
• Elmarco NS 500 Electrospinning Machine
• MAAC Thermoforming Machine
• Sheer Bay Bath and PelletizerHitachi/Thermo RC6 Centrifuge
• Powder King Pulverizer
• Wabash 100 ton Press
• Carver 30 ton Presses (2)Waeco/Litzler Thermoset Prepreg Machine
• CAPE Thermoplastic Impregnation Machine
• JHM Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) Machine
• Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) Equipment
• Sonotek Ultrasonic CoaterTaricco Industrial Autoclave (4’ x 8’ inside dimensions)
• Wisconsin Walk-In OvenBlue M Inert Atmosphere Oven
• Muffle Furnaces (2)
• Gerber CNC Cutting Table
• Wardwell Composite Braider
• Farrell 2-Roll MillFadal VMC6030 CNC Mill
• Tri-Tech 5-axis Mill HeadHaas CNC Lathe
• Engis Tool Polishing Set
• Tinius Olsen Model 104 IZOD Tester
• Struers Automated Sample Polisher
• Struers Automated Sample Saw
• Stratasys Fortus 400 FDM 3D Printing Machine
• FARO V3 Laser CMM w/Geomagic Software Suite
• Anode, cathode and full-cell battery assembly facility

Characterization and Testing Equipment:

• MTS Load Frames (2) w/Environmental (variable temperature) Chambers (25 – 250 kN force)
• CEAST 9350 Impact Tester with higher energy option (0.6 -1800 J energy, 4.7 – 24 m/s velocity)
• Tinius Olsen Model 104 IZOD Impact Tester
• Haake Polylab RheometerTA Instruments ARES G2 Rotational Rheometer
• Brookfield Rheomix Rheometer
• TA Instruments Q800 Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer
• TA Instruments Q200 TM Differential Scanning Calorimeter
• Carl Zeiss Axio-Imager M1m Motorized Microscope
• Krautkramer USN 58L Ultrasonic Flaw Detector
• Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV)QUV Accelerated Weathering Tester
• Arbin 136-channel galvanometer battery testing equipment
• Piezoelectric d33 measurement instrument
• Gas Pycnometer