Biography

Angela Dawson has an MSc in Polymer Science and Engineering and has been with NPL for more than 10 years. Prior to this, she worked in the field of polymeric materials for eight years in the quality control and research laboratories of a large multi-national company.

Angela has over ten years' experience of thermal conductivity testing of filled and unfilled polymeric systems, including composites using a transient line-source probe technique at ambient pressure and pressures up to 180 MPa over the temperature range 21 °C to 300 °C in heating and cooling modes, leading to the standardisation of thermal conductivity measurement by line-source probe.

Angela maintains the NPL line-source probe measurement service facility. She also has experience of testing of the thermal conductivity of filled, unfilled polymeric systems and composites using other transient techniques including the Hot Disk method and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).

Angela is a postgraduate member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Current interests

The development of novel prototype micro heated stage and AFM probe based methods for the validation of measurements of thermophysical properties of polymeric materials on the micro and nano scale. The developed system would enable measurement of thermophysical properties of material transitions (e.g. glass transition temperatures), and thermal transport properties of materials at the microstructural and thin film levels.

The measurement of the thermophysical properties of polymers on the macro scale to provide more accurate data for modelling during product design and injection moulding of polymeric parts. Properties measured include specific volume, density and thermal conductivity which allow the simulation of warpage and shrinkage behaviour under conditions approach those encountered in injection moulding.

The development of accurate reference specimens, facilities and methods, for example Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Thermogravimetric-Differential Thermal Analysis, to characterize the thermal properties of advanced materials.at temperatures in the 1500 °C to 2000 °C region. This would enable closer control over the design and performance of materials such as refractory alloys and ceramic coatings in applications such as turbines for power plants where increases in operating temperatures can lead to efficiency improvements of up to about 60%.

Selected Publications

• The effect of pressure on the thermal conductivity of polymer melts
  Dawson A., Rides M., Nottay J.
  Polymer Testing, 25, page 268 (2006)
• Polymer-mould interface heat transfer coefficient measurements for polymer processing
  Dawson A., Rides M., Allen C.R.G., Urquhart J.
  Polymer Testing, 27, page 555 (2008)
• The measurement of thermal conductivity of amorphous polymers above glass transition temperature
  Dawson A., Rides M., Allen C.R.G.
  Polymer Processing Society, Salerno 2008
• Heat transfer coefficient measurement for simulation of injection moulding processes for polymeric materials
  Dawson A., Rides M., Allen C.R.G., Urquhart J.
  18th European Conference on Thermophysical Properties, Pau 2008
• Intercomparison of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity methods for plastics
  Rides M., Morikawa J., Halldahl L., Hay B., Lobo H., Dawson A., Allen C.
  Polymer Testing 28, page 480, (2009)

Contact

E: angela.dawson@npl.co.uk
T: 020 8943 7155