Improving surface quality of microcellular injection molded parts through mold surface temperature manipulation with thin film insulation

Microcellular injection molding offers many advantages such as material and energy savings, reduced cycle times, and excellent dimensional stability. However, typical surface characteristics of microcellular injection molded parts—such as gas flow and swirl marks and a lack of smoothness—have precluded the process from being used for applications where surface appearance is important. This article presents an insulator‐assisted method that has been shown to improve the surface quality of microcellular injection molded parts significantly. By incorporating a thin film (75–225 μm) of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) insulator on the mold surface, the polymer melt–insulator interfacial temperature can be manipulated and can be kept high enough during mold filling to reduce or eliminate swirl marks on the surface. The experimental results in terms of surface roughness and surface profile of conventional and microcellular injection molded parts with and without the insulator film are discussed. Thermal analyses of the corresponding microcellular injection molding experiments were performed to elucidate the correlation between film thickness, interfacial temperature, and the surface quality. The effect of insulator on the cooling time increase is also analyzed and presented. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Novel injection molding foaming approaches using gas‐laden pellets with N2, CO2, and N2 + CO2 as the blowing agents

A novel method of producing injection molded parts with a foamed structure has been developed. It has been named supercritical fluid‐laden pellet injection molding foaming technology (SIFT). Compared with conventional microcellular foaming technologies, it lowers equipment costs without sacrificing the production rate, making it a good candidate for mass producing foamed injection molded parts. Both N₂ and CO₂ can be suitably used in this process as the physical blowing agent. However, due to their distinct physical properties, it is necessary to understand the influence of their differences over the process and the outcomes. Comparisons were made in this study between using CO₂ and N₂ as the blowing agents in terms of the part morphologies, as well as the shelf life and gas desorption process of the gas‐laden pellets. After gaining a good understanding of the SIFT process and the gas‐laden pellets, a novel foam injection molding approach combining the SIFT process with microcellular injection molding was proposed in this study. Both N₂ and CO₂ can be introduced into the same foaming process as the coblowing agents in a two‐step manner. Using an optimal content ratio for the blowing agents, as well as the proper sequence of introducing the gases, foamed parts with a much better morphology can be produced by taking advantage of the benefits of both blowing agents. In this study, the theoretical background is discussed and experimental results show that this combined approach leads to significant improvements in foam cell morphology for low density polyethylene, polypropylene, and high impact polystyrene using two different mold geometries. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:899–913, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effects of nano‐fillers and process conditions on the microstructure and mechanical properties of microcellular injection molded polyamide nanocomposites

This paper presents the effects of process conditions and nano‐clay fillers on the microstructure (namely, size, density, and distribution of microcells within samples) and the resulting mechanical properties of microcellular injection molded polyamide‐6 (PA‐6) nanocomposite and its neat‐resin counterpart. Based on the design of experiments (DOE) matrices, samples were molded at various supercritical fluid (SCF) levels, melt temperatures, shot sizes, melt plastication pressures (MPP), and injection speeds. These samples were then subjected to scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, tensile testing, and impact testing. For both materials, the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the molded samples were found to be dependent on the process conditions and presence of nano‐clay, which could serve as microcell nucleating agent. At higher weight reductions, the nanocomposite samples exhibit much smaller microcells and higher cell densities than those obtained in the neat‐resin samples. The SEM micrographs reveal noticeable differences in microcell surface roughness between the nanocomposite and the neat resin. A statistical design analysis was used to identify the optimal process conditions that would result in desirable cell size and density and, thus, better mechanical properties. For example, the highest tensile strengths have been observed at the highest levels of shot size, MPP, injection speed, and SCF level, and at the lowest level of melt temperature.     

A new microcellular injection molding process for polycarbonate using water as the physical blowing agent

This article presents a new process for producing microcellular injection molded plastic parts using water as the physical blowing agent and micro‐scaled particles as the cell nucleating agents. Distilled water with dissolved salt were fed through the hopper of an injection molding machine at a preset rate and mixed with polycarbonate (PC) in the machine barrel. Microcellular PC tensile bars were then injection molded with different shot volumes, water/salt solution feed rates, and salt concentrations. Tiny salt crystals of 10–20 μm recrystallized during molding acted as nucleating agents in the PC foamed parts. The surface roughness, mechanical properties, and microstructure of the solid and foamed parts were measured and compared with microcellular injection molded parts using supercritical fluid (SCF) nitrogen as the physical blowing agent. At a similar weight reduction of about 10%, the water foamed PC parts have a smooth surface comparable to that of solid injection molded parts. They also possess similar, if not better, mechanical properties compared to SCF nitrogen foamed PC parts. Without the nucleating agent, PC/water foamed parts exhibit much larger and fewer bubbles within the molded parts. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Fabrication of highly expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foams using microcellular injection molding and gas‐laden pellets

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is one of the most widely used and versatile thermoplastic materials. TPU foams have been extensively applied in various industries including the furniture, automotive, sportswear, and packaging industries. In this study, two methods of producing highly expanded TPU injection molded foam were investigated: (1) microcellular injection molding (MIM) with N₂ as a blowing agent, and (2) a novel gas‐laden pellet/MIM combined process with N₂ and CO₂ as co‐blowing agents. Two designs of experiments (DOEs) were performed to learn the influences of key processing parameters and to optimize foam quality. By using N₂ and CO₂ as co‐blowing agents, a bulk density as low as 0.20 g/cm³ was successfully achieved with a hysteresis compression loss of 24.4%. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2643–2652, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of injection speed on the mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene micro injection molded parts based on a nanoindentation test

Isotactic polypropylene micro parts were molded at different injection speeds by microinjection molding. The morphology and micro structure were characterized by a polarizing microscope, and the mechanical properties of differently structured layers were characterized by nanoindentation experiments. The influence of injection speed on the nanoindentation mechanical properties of each structural layer of the micro parts was analyzed. The results showed that the mechanical properties of different layers were different, the modulus and hardness of the position near the core layer were largest, and the modulus and hardness of the position near the skin were smallest. It is compelling that the modulus and hardness of each layer decreased first and then increased as the injection speed increased under a higher melt temperature (240 °C). Meanwhile, the opposite trend was observed at a lower melt temperature (220 °C). This phenomenon can be attributed to the competitive mechanism of the shear heat effect and the disorientation effect. In addition, injection speed had a greater influence on the nanoindentation mechanical properties in the perpendicular direction than in the flow direction. This work systematically explored the relationship between the microstructure and the local mechanical properties, which can provide new insights for microinjection molding design in the future. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47329.     

Chaotic mixing in a single‐screw extruder with a moving internal baffle

A geometry in which the mixing of a single‐screw extruder was enhanced by a reciprocating baffle is proposed in this article. The effect of the baffle's amplitude on the mixing kinematics of the screw channel was investigated. A model with the baffle lower than the screw channel and the corresponding mathematical model were developed. The periodic flow and mixing performance of Newtonian fluid in such an extruder were numerically simulated. The finite volume method was used, and the flow domain was meshed by staggered grids with the periodic boundary conditions of the barrier motion being imposed by the mesh supposition technique. Fluid particle tracking was performed by a fourth‐order Runge–Kutta scheme. Distributive mixing was visualized by the evolution of passive tracers initially located at different positions. The growth of the interface stretch of tracers with time and the cumulative residence time distribution were also obtained. Poincaré sections were applied to reveal the geometrical scale of chaotic mixing patterns and the regions with embedded regular laminar flows. For comparison, the mixing performance in a conventional single extruder with fixed baffle was also investigated. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:198–207, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Fabrication of polylactic acid/polyethylene glycol (PLA/PEG) porous scaffold by supercritical CO2 foaming and particle leaching

PLA/PEG/NaCl blends were melt‐blended followed by gas foaming and particle leaching process to fabricate porous scaffold with high porosity and interconnectivity. A home‐made triple‐screw compounding extruder was used to intensify the mixability and dispersion of NaCl and PEG in the PLA matrix. Supercritical carbon dioxide was used as physical blowing agent for the microcellular foaming process. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used as the porogen to further improve the porosity of PLA scaffold. This study investigated the effects of PEG and NaCl on the structure and properties of the PLA‐based blend, as well as the porosity, pore size, interconnectivity, and hydrophilicity of porous scaffolds. It was found that the incorporation of PEG and NaCl significantly improved the crystallization rate and reduced viscoelasticity of PLA. Moreover, scaffolds obtained from PLA/PEG/NaCl blends had an interconnected bimodal porous structure with the open‐pore content about 86% and the highest porosity of 80%. And the presence of PEG in PLA/NaCl composite improved the extraction ability of NaCl particles during leaching process, which resulted in a well‐interconnected structure. The biocompatibility of the porous scaffolds fabricated was verified by culturing fibroblast cells for 10 days. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:1339–1348, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Spatial orientation of nanoclay and crystallite in microcellular injection molded polyamide‐6 nanocomposites

Three different types of characteristic structures‐microcells, nanoclay, and crystallite lamella‐exist in injection molded polyamide‐6 microcellular nanocomposites. These structures are in completely different scales. The spatial orientation of these microscale structures crucially determines the material's bulk properties. Based on scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and two‐dimensional X‐ray diffractometry measurements, it was found that the nanoclay and the crystallite formed special geometric structures around the microcells and near the part skins. The nanoclay platelets lay almost parallel to the surfaces of the molded parts. Preferred orientation of the crystallites was induced by the presence of the nanoclay. A molecular‐based model is proposed to describe the structural hierarchy and correlations among the microcells, nanoclay, and crystallite lamella. From the small‐angle X‐ray scattering experiments, it was found that microcellular injection molding produces relatively smaller crystallite lamella than that of conventional injection molding, and that for both solid and microcellular neat resin parts the crystallite lamella thickness at the part skin is smaller than that at the core. Polarized optical microscopy results also indicated that the size of crystallites in the microcellular neat resin and nanocomposite parts is smaller than that in the corresponding solid parts. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:765–779, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Intelligent setting of process parameters for injection molding based on case-based reasoning of molding features

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing - Process parameters of injection molding are the key factors affecting the final quality and the molding efficiency of products. In the traditional automatic...