Comparative study of crystallization and lamellae orientation of isotactic polypropylene by rapid heat cycle molding and conventional injection molding

e-Polymers ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiquan Li ◽  
Shaoguang Yang ◽  
Lih-Sheng Turng ◽  
Wei Zheng ◽  
Shaofei Jiang

AbstractThe crystallization and orientation of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) molded by rapid heat cycle molding (RHCM) and conventional injection molding (CIM) were studied. Due to the varying cooling rates and shearing, the molded parts exhibited a multilayered structure (skin, shear and core) across the part thickness, reflecting different degrees of crystallization and lamellae orientation of iPP. The morphology evolution of RHCM products was discussed based on the comparative research of morphology and structure at multiple sites on the RHCM and CIM specimens. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) were used to analyze the thickness, crystallinity and lamellae orientation of these three distinct layers. The crystallization and lamellae orientation of iPP correlated strongly with the multilayered structure. In the RHCM process, one side of the mold is equipped with the rapid heat cycle function. The thickness and lamellae orientation next to the heated surface were less than that of the opposite skin layer without heating. Meanwhile, the crystallinity was greater than that of the opposite skin layer.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 7125-7136
Author(s):  
Bei Su ◽  
Ying-Guo Zhou ◽  
Lih-Sheng Turng

Compared with the constant mold temperature in conventional injection molding (CIM), injection molded parts with variable mold temperatures undergo a different thermomechanical history. As a result, the microstructure—for example, the skin–core structure found often in CIM—can be changed. However, unlike conventional injection molding, there have been few studies on the microstructure of injection molding with variable mold temperatures (IMVMT), possibly because the experimental control of variable mold temperatures remains difficult. In this paper, the skin layer thickness of CIM and IMVMT under different mold temperatures was carefully investigated by optical microscope. The higher mold temperatures and longer holding times during the injection flow stage caused a thinning of the highly oriented skin layer, and vice-versa. A dual-scale modeling was then proposed based on the prediction of crystal dimensions, and it was further used to predict the thickness of the skin layer. The predicted results were in agreement with the experimental observations under the different mold temperatures during IMVMT processing, and the proposed model proved to be effective.


2012 ◽  
Vol 468-471 ◽  
pp. 1013-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Qing Lai

Molding is one of the most versatile and important processes for manufacturing complex plastic parts. It is a method of fabricating plastic parts by utilizing a mold or cavity that has a shape and size similar to the part being produced. Molten polymer is injected into the cavity, resulting in the desired part upon solidification. The injection-molded parts typically have excellent dimensional tolerance and require almost no finishing and assembly operations. But new variations and emerging innovations of conventional injection molding have been continuously developed to offer special features and benefits that cannot be accomplished by the conventional injection molding process. This study aims to improving the life of stereolithography injection mold.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 4087
Author(s):  
Jiquan Li ◽  
Wenyong Liu ◽  
Xinxin Xia ◽  
Hangchao Zhou ◽  
Liting Jing ◽  
...  

A burn mark is a sort of serious surface defect on injection-molded parts. In some cases, it can be difficult to reduce the burn marks by traditional methods. In this study, external gas-assisted injection molding (EGAIM) was introduced to reduce the burn marks, as EGAIM has been reported to reduce the holding pressure. The parts with different severities of burn marks were produced by EGAIM and conventional injection molding (CIM) with the same molding parameters but different gas parameters. The burn marks were quantified by an image processing method and the quantitative method was introduced to discuss the influence of the gas parameters on burn marks. The results show that the burn marks can be eliminated by EGAIM without changing the structure of the part or the mold, and the severity of the burn marks changed from 4.98% with CIM to 0% with EGAIM. Additionally, the gas delay time is the most important gas parameter affecting the burn marks.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karol Bula ◽  
Leszek Różański ◽  
Lidia Marciniak-Podsadna ◽  
Dawid Wróbel

Abstract This study concerns the application of infrared camera for injection molding analysis by measuring temperatures of both injection molded parts and injection mold cavities in a function of injection cycles. The mold with two cavities, differing in thickness (1 and 3 mm), and a cold direct runner was used. Isotactic polypropylene homopolymer was utilized to produce parts. Mold temperature was set at 22°C and controlled by a water chiller. Five measuring points were determined: SP1, SP2 (placed in the 3 mm cavity), SP3, SP4 (located in the 1 mm cavity) and SP5 around an injection molding gate. Our investigations showed that the highest temperature is localized around SP2 point and the lowest at SP4. Also, it was proved that even after 62 injection molding cycles, temperatures of cavities were not stable, revealing their further increase with each cycle.


2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (24) ◽  
pp. 7830-7838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianhu Liu ◽  
Guoqiang Zheng ◽  
Kun Dai ◽  
Zhenhua Jia ◽  
Songwei Li ◽  
...  

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2930
Author(s):  
Donghwi Kim ◽  
Youngjae Ryu ◽  
Ju-Heon Lee ◽  
Sung Woon Cha

Injection research using aluminum flakes has been conducted to realize metallic textures on the surface of plastic products. Several studies have focused on the effect of the orientation and quality of the flakes when using conventional injection molding methods; however, limited studies have focused on the foam injection molding method. In this study, we examined the orientation of aluminum flakes through foam injection with an inert gas and observed the changes in texture using a spectrophotometer and a gloss meter. The mechanical properties were also studied because the rigidity of the product, which is affected by the weight reduction that occurs during foaming, is an important factor. The results demonstrate that under foam injection molding, reflectance and gloss increased by 6% and 7 GU, respectively, compared to those obtained using conventional injection molding; furthermore, impact strength and flexural modulus increased by 62% and 15%, respectively. The results of this research can be applied to incorporate esthetic improvements to products and to develop functional parts.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3632
Author(s):  
Sylvain Badie ◽  
Rimy Gabriel ◽  
Doris Sebold ◽  
Robert Vaßen ◽  
Olivier Guillon ◽  
...  

Near-net shape components composed of monolithic Ti2AlC and composites thereof, containing up to 20 vol.% Al2O3 fibers, were fabricated by powder injection molding. Fibers were homogeneously dispersed and preferentially oriented, due to flow constriction and shear-induced velocity gradients. After a two-stage debinding procedure, the injection-molded parts were sintered by pressureless sintering at 1250 °C and 1400 °C under argon, leading to relative densities of up to 70% and 92%, respectively. In order to achieve near-complete densification, field assisted sintering technology/spark plasma sintering in a graphite powder bed was used, yielding final relative densities of up to 98.6% and 97.2% for monolithic and composite parts, respectively. While the monolithic parts shrank isotropically, composite assemblies underwent anisotropic densification due to constrained sintering, on account of the ceramic fibers and their specific orientation. No significant increase, either in hardness or in toughness, upon the incorporation of Al2O3 fibers was observed. The 20 vol.% Al2O3 fiber-reinforced specimen accommodated deformation by producing neat and well-defined pyramidal indents at every load up to a 30 kgf (~294 N).


Author(s):  
Sornkrit Leartcheongchowasak ◽  
Merwan Mehta ◽  
Hamid Al-Kadi ◽  
Keith Sequeira ◽  
Brian Snow ◽  
...  

Abstract The most important problem, causing defective parts, in the injection molding process, is nonuniform shrinkage of molded parts. This leads to an iterative trial-and-error cycles of modification of mold cavity and core to arrive at the right dimensional size required which can occasionally to complete retooling. For this process, there are many factors that can be thrown out of control. Using the traditional scientific approach, engineers have longed to understand the mechanics of the process to control it, with limited success. In this paper, a design of experiments setup, using the Taguchi Methods, was done to reduce the nonuniform shrinkage. The company where the experiment was carried out is a precision parts molder for their own product lines. By using the internal experts from the company, a list of independent process parameters with no interactions which were thought the most responsible for dimensional size were listed. As there were 13 such parameters, it was decided to use the L27 orthogonal array. The optimum value that the company experts thought would produce the right part were used as the settings for the initial experiment. The 27 experiments were then performed, allowing sufficient time to let the machine stabilized between the experiments. The S/N ratio calculation for 27 experiments was explained. Next the calculations for the percentage that each parameter contributes to the dimension was determined. Finally, a confirmation experiment was performed to verify the results.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document