Processing, Spectroscopic and Laboratory Testing Data from a Medical Grade Hot-Melt Extrusion Process

This dataset contains a collection of raw processing data, spectroscopic data, and laboratory test results of medical-grade polymer extrusion experiments. The data was collected in several experiments conducted in a hot-melt extrusion process.  The process involved extruding PLA through a slit die and drawing the extruded strands onto spools to obtain the desired dimensional and mechanical properties. The strands were later knitted to form the final medical implant. Throughout the experiments, the extrusion process and equipment were upgraded and refined.  Various operational scenarios were simulated under different nozzle configurations. The experiments start using a single-screw extruder and later progress to a double-screw extruder. Medical Grade PURASORB PLA (PLDLA 96/4) material was used when the hardware upgrades were complete. This dataset contains many variations in experimental conditions. However, enough overlap exists to derive working datasets from this compiled raw data.

Two working datasets have been derived from this compiled raw data. Using a double-screw extruder, both working Datasets investigate polymer degradation in the hot-melt extrusion process. Both derived datasets are included in this collection.

Two Jupyter notebooks are included in this data collection. The first notebook gives an example of how an initial dataset can be derived from the raw data using data science techniques. The second notebook gives an example of how a final dataset can be created from the initial dataset.