Shrinkage and Warpage in the Permanent Shape of Sape-Memory Polyurethane Parts

The shape memory effect, as the most important ability of shape memory polymers, is a working property and provides the design ability to shape memory polymer features. Shrinkage and warpage are important parameters to control the dimensional accuracy of permanent and temporary shapes of an injection moulded shape memory polyurethane (SMPU) part. In this study, the effects of injection moulding parameters on the shrinkage and warpage of the permanent shape of moulded SMPU parts were experimentally investigated. The parameters of injection pressure, melt temperature, mould temperature, packing pressure, packing time, and cooling time, were chosen as the injection moulding control factors. Taguchi�s L27 orthogonal array design table was used with six injection moulding parameters and their three levels. The results showed that the part has different shrinkage ratios in three main directions, namely, the flow direction, perpendicular to the flow direction, and the direction through the thickness. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the cooling time is the most influential parameter on both the shrinkage (except in thickness) and warpage. The shrinkage in the flow direction as well as in perpendicular to the flow direction decreased with increasing the cooling time. Warpage also decreased with increasing the cooling time. Injection pressure and melt temperature were found to be effective on shrinkage in thickness. Effects of mould temperature, packing pressure, and packing time were found to be limited. A statistically significant relationship has been noticed among shrinkage, warpage, and residual stresses during the study.

Using taguchi approach for investigating mechanical properties of recycled carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics for injection moulding applications

Demand for carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) increases due to its popular demand in sectors such as automotive and aerospace. This leads to high volume of manufacturing and end of life CFRP waste. The challenge is to recycle the heterogenous waste and utilise the recycled carbon fibre (rCF) in potential applications, including the injection moulding process. However, the effect of processing parameters such as type of new thermoplastics, filler weight loading and particle size on product mechanical properties is not well understood. This study carried out experimental trials based on L4 Taguchi orthogonal design. It is found that the mechanical and physical properties significantly depend on the selected parameters. Optimisation of the parameters should depend on final application of the product. This study highlights potential use of rCF in reinforcing pure thermoplastics, as well as an alternative material to virgin carbon fibre (CF).