| Résumé : |
The Sealants Business of Dow Corning Corp., Midland, Mich., produces silicone sealants, adhesives and related materials for the construction industry. Research scientists in the division investigate formulations with the goal of combining the most cost-effective intermediate ingredients to create the highest-quality products. Since sealant mixtures contain many intermediate products, the investigation of different combinations of intermediates can become complex.
To help set up and analyze experiments, Dow Corning scientists use Design-Expert from Stat-Ease Inc., Minneapolis, a software package tailored to the design of experiments for mixtures. It permits an approach to research called "designed experimentation" and automates laborious calculations. Designed experimentation (also called DOE for "design of experiments") is based on statistical methods first developed by Sir Ronald Fisher at the Rothamsted Agricultural Station in London. Later, George Box and others refined the techniques, which rely heavily on orthogonal arrays. In the 1980s companies such as Stat-Ease introduced designed experimentation software to the personal computer, opening it up for use by non-statisticians.
Using Design-Expert, Dow Corning researchers recently upgraded a sealant formulation to meet the demanding performance required by a customer. The right balance of components in the formulation produced a sealant with the correct curing rate. Design-Expert led the investigators to a formulation approach that they might not have considered, cutting months off what could have been a long, drawn-out process. |
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Designed experimentation reveals best approach for silicone sealants in ADHESIVES AGE, Vol. 37, N° 9 (08/1994)
