scholarly journals Lotus-Leaf Inspired Surfaces: Hydrophobicity Evolution of Replicas Due to Mechanical Cleaning and Mold Wear

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Romano ◽  
Antonio Garcia-Giron ◽  
Pavel Penchev ◽  
Mert Gulcur ◽  
Ben R. Whiteside ◽  
...  

Abstract Inspired from the low wetting properties of Lotus leaves, the fabrication of dual micro/nanoscale topographies is of interest to many applications. In this research, superhydrophobic surfaces are fabricated by a process chain combining ultrashort pulsed laser texturing of steel inserts and injection molding to produce textured polypropylene (PP) parts. This manufacturing route is very promising and could be economically viable for mass production of polymeric parts with superhydrophobic properties. However, surface damages, such as wear and abrasion phenomena, can be detrimental to the attractive wetting properties of replicated textured surfaces. Therefore, the final product lifespan is investigated using mechanical cleaning of textured PP surfaces with multipurpose cloths following the ASTM D3450 standard. Second, the surface damage of replication masters after 350 injection molding cycles with glass-fiber-reinforced PP, especially to intensify mold wear, was investigated. In both cases, the degradation of the dual-scale surface textures had a clear impact on surface topography of the replicas and thus on their wetting properties, too.

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1569
Author(s):  
Selim Mrzljak ◽  
Alexander Delp ◽  
André Schlink ◽  
Jan-Christoph Zarges ◽  
Daniel Hülsbusch ◽  
...  

Short glass fiber reinforced plastics (SGFRP) offer superior mechanical properties compared to polymers, while still also enabling almost unlimited geometric variations of components at large-scale production. PA6-GF30 represents one of the most used SGFRP for series components, but the impact of injection molding process parameters on the fatigue properties is still insufficiently investigated. In this study, various injection molding parameter configurations were investigated on PA6-GF30. To take the significant frequency dependency into account, tension–tension fatigue tests were performed using multiple amplitude tests, considering surface temperature-adjusted frequency to limit self-heating. The frequency adjustment leads to shorter testing durations as well as up to 20% higher lifetime under fatigue loading. A higher melt temperature and volume flow rate during injection molding lead to an increase of 16% regarding fatigue life. In situ Xray microtomography analysis revealed that this result was attributed to a stronger fiber alignment with larger fiber lengths in the flow direction. Using digital volume correlation, differences of up to 100% in local strain values at the same stress level for different injection molding process parameters were identified. The results prove that the injection molding parameters have a high influence on the fatigue properties and thus offer a large optimization potential, e.g., with regard to the component design.


2021 ◽  
pp. 109771
Author(s):  
Xiong Liang ◽  
Yongjing Liu ◽  
Zehang Liu ◽  
Jiang Ma ◽  
Zhenxuan Zhang ◽  
...  

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2250
Author(s):  
Mohammad Amjadi ◽  
Ali Fatemi

Short glass fiber-reinforced (SGFR) thermoplastics are used in many industries manufactured by injection molding which is the most common technique for polymeric parts production. Glass fibers are commonly used as the reinforced material with thermoplastics and injection molding. In this paper, a critical plane-based fatigue damage model is proposed for tension–tension or tension–compression fatigue life prediction of SGFR thermoplastics considering fiber orientation and mean stress effects. Temperature and frequency effects were also included by applying the proposed damage model into a general fatigue model. Model predictions are presented and discussed by comparing with the experimental data from the literature.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Kim ◽  
Joo Sohn ◽  
Youngjae Ryu ◽  
Shin Kim ◽  
Sung Cha

This study analyzes the fundamental principles and characteristics of the microcellular foaming process (MCP) to minimize warpage in glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP), which is typically worse than that of a solid polymer. In order to confirm the tendency for warpage and the improvement of this phenomenon according to the glass fiber content (GFC), two factors associated with the reduction of the shrinkage difference and the non-directionalized fiber orientation were set as variables. The shrinkage was measured in the flow direction and transverse direction, and it was confirmed that the shrinkage difference between these two directions is the cause of warpage of GFRP specimens. In addition, by applying the MCP to injection molding, it was confirmed that warpage was improved by reducing the shrinkage difference. To further confirm these results, the effects of cell formation on shrinkage and fiber orientation were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, micro-CT observation, and cell morphology analysis. The micro-CT observations revealed that the fiber orientation was non-directional for the MCP. Moreover, it was determined that the mechanical and thermal properties were improved, based on measurements of the impact strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and deflection temperature for the MCP.


2012 ◽  
Vol 501 ◽  
pp. 294-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Bian ◽  
Peng Cheng Xie ◽  
Yu Mei Ding ◽  
Wei Min Yang

This study was aimed at understanding how the process conditions affected the dimensional stability of glass fiber reinforced PP by microcellular injection molding. A design of experiments (DOE) was performed and plane test specimens were produced for the shrinkage and warpage analysis. Injection molding trials were performed by systematically adjusting six process parameters (i.e., Injection speed, Injection pressure, Shot temperature, SCF level, Mold temperature, and Cooling time). By analyzing the statistically significant main and two-factor interaction effects, the results showed that the supercritical fluid (SCF) level and the injection speed affected the shrinkage and warpage of microcellular injection molded parts the most.


2020 ◽  
Vol 405 ◽  
pp. 245-250
Author(s):  
Martin Juliš ◽  
Lenka Klakurková ◽  
Pavel Gejdoš

For the corrosion resistance analysis of the heat exchanger plates (made of AISI 316L steel) the samples with visible damage was delivered. The major part of the surface damages was located at the place of "close proximity" (or surface contact) of individual plates. Some of delivered samples showed an unequal layers of sediments, which indicating a different flow velocities of operating fluid through the plates. At locations of the upper part of the plates with no sedimentation (high velocity flow), the most surface damage was detected in "near contact" areas as well as outside. On the other hand, the area of the lower part of the plates, where the sediment deposition was massive (lowest velocity flow), was observed the smallest surface damage. The results of the chemical composition analyses showed a lower amount of molybdenum and a higher amount of phosphorus in case of all samples. The contents of the key elements necessary for the corrosion resistance (chromium and nickel) were only just above the lower limit of the prescribed chemical composition interval. For detailed study of surface damage, selected defects were observed and documented using scanning electron microscopy. Localized damage showed intercrystalline failure of material with typical surface morphology degraded as a result of cavitation damage under hydrodynamic stress.


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