9413814 Good State-of-the-art equipment to support research in the Web Handling Research Center (WHRC) will be developed. The WHRC is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in its ninth year of operation with twenty corporate sponsors. The term "web" describes materials that are manufactured and processed in a continuous-strip form, e.g., thin plastics, paper, textiles, metals, and composites. Web handling refers to the physical mechanics related to the transport and control of continuous-strip materials through processes and machines. The equipment to be acquired will support several research projects, including: (1) winding webs at high speed and accelerations, (2) longitudinal dynamics and tension control in multi-span web transport systems, and (3) the wrinkling of webs. The sucessful research performed with the web line should have an impact upon productivity within web handling industries. The amount of web handling which is done within industry is immense as many automated manufacturing processes demand the continuous strip form. The investigator's will be able to validate and improve some of the most critical mathematical models that have been developed. The result will be an improved knowledge base which engineers can use to design web process lines that produce the required product without defects and losses resulting in improved productivity.
