pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S08 - Polymer Foams
Oral Presentation
 
 

FOAM INJECTION MOLDING OF POLY(LACTIC ACID) WITH PHYSICAL BLOWING AGENTS

Pantani Roberto (1)*, Sorrentino Andrea (2), Volpe Valentina (1), Titomanlio Giuseppe (1)

(1) University of Salerno - Dept. of Industrial Engineering - Salerno - Italy, (2) Institute for Composite and Biomedical Materials, National Research Council - Portici - Italy

Foam injection molding uses environmental friendly blowing agents under high pressure and temperature to produce parts having a cellular core and a compact solid skin (the so-called “structural foam”). The addition of a supercritical gas reduces the part weight and at the same time improves some physical properties of the material through the promotion of a faster crystallization; it also leads to the reduction of both the viscosity and the glass transition temperature of the polymer melt, which therefore can be injection molded adopting lower temperatures and pressures. These aspects are of extreme interest for biodegradable polymers, which often present a very narrow processing window, with the suitable processing temperatures close to the degradation conditions. In this work, foam injection molding was carried out by an instrumented molding machine, able to measure the pressure evolution in different positions along the flow-path. The material adopted was a biodegradable polymer, namely the Poly(lactic acid), PLA. The effect of a physical blowing agent (PBA) on the viscosity of a polymer melt as well as on the physical and mechanical properties and foamed structure of parts obtained by microcellular injection molding was assessed. The effect of PBA content on the microcellular structure, on the density reduction and on the mechanical properties was assessed. An attempt was also made to relate the mechanical properties to the foamed structure.