Development of a Rheology Die and Flow Characterization of Gas-Containing Polymer Melts

We present a novel measurement die for characterizing the flow behavior of gas-containing polymer melts. The die is mounted directly on the injection-molding cylinder in place of the mold cavity and thus enables near-process measurement of viscosity (i.e., under the conditions that would be present were a mold attached). This integration also resolves the issue of keeping gas-containing polymer melts under pressure during measurement to prevent desorption. After thermal characterization of the die, various correction approaches were compared against each other to identify the most suitable one for our case. We conducted measurements using polypropylene in combination with two different chemical blowing agents. Increasing the blowing-agent content to up to 6% revealed an interestingly low influence of gases on melt viscosity, which was confirmed by elongational viscosity measurements. For verification, we compared our results to corresponding measurements taken on a high-pressure capillary rheometer and found that they were in excellent agreement. Our die cannot only be used for rheological characterization. Combined with ultrasound sensors, it provides an innovative way of measuring the volumetric flow rate. This development represents an important step in improving the sustainability of gas-containing polymer processing.

Study of the rheology and foaming processes of poly(vinyl chloride) plastisols with different foaming agents

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plastisols are widely used in the production of flexible PVC foams. In this study, we investigated the evolution of the complex viscosity of PVC plastisol by dynamic oscillatory tests, the storage modulus of the PVC compound by dynamic mechanical analysis, and the thermal behavior including the decomposition of three chemical blowing agents (CBAs), namely, azodicarbonamide, 4,4′-oxybis(benzenesulfonyl hydrazide), and sodium bicarbonate, by differential scanning calorimetry. Furthermore, the morphology and quality of the foams obtained from the corresponding plastisols were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that the onset decomposition temperature T2(5%) of a CBA in plastisol is the most critical indicator of the foam quality. The temperature difference corresponding to [T2(5%) – Tηmax] was also proved to be another important parameter. When T2(5%) is within the optimum temperature range of a PVC plastisol, the bigger the [T2(5%) – Tηmax] difference, the better the quality of the foams.

Characterization of Different Chemical Blowing Agents and Their Applicability to Produce Poly(Lactic Acid) Foams by Extrusion

This study presents the applicability of different types (exothermic and endothermic) of chemical blowing agents (CBAs) in the case of poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The amount of foaming agent is a fixed 2 wt%. We used a twin-screw extruder and added the individual components in the form of dry mixture through the hopper of the extruder. We characterized the PLA matrix and the chemical blowing agents with different testing methods. In case of the produced foams we carried out morphological and mechanical tests and used scanning electron microscopy to examine cell structure. We showed that PLA can be successfully foamed with the use of chemical blowing agents. The best results were achieved with an exothermic CBA and with PLA type 8052D. The cell population density of PLA foams produced this way was 4.82 × 105 cells/cm3, their expansion was 2.36, their density 0.53 g/cm3 and their void fraction was 57.61%.