pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S02 - Nanocomposites and filled Polymers
Oral Presentation
 
 

Investigation of Fiber Orientation and Displacement in High-Pressure Foam Injection Molding of Polystyrene/Carbon-Fiber Composites

Shaayegan Vahid (1), Cuif Lorraine (2), Ameli Aboutaleb (3), Wang Sai (1), Park Chul B. (1)*

(1) University of Toronto - Ontario - Canada, (2) ENSICAEN - Caen - France, (3) Washington State University Tri-Cities - Washington - USA

We used an in-situ visualization technique to study the re-orientation and displacement of dispersed fibers in conductive polymer composites, fabricated by foam injection molding method. Composites of polystyrene/carbon-fiber were foamed using carbon dioxide. We observed that the carbon fibers, in the vicinity of cell nuclei, exhibited both rotational and translational motions under the influence of growing bubbles. Our experimental results showed that the initial cell-fiber distance plays a crucial role in the final alignment of the fibers. The shorter initial distance results in greater rotational and translational displacement of fiber during cell growth. The interaction between the cells and fibers was also modeled and validated using the experimental data. A fair agreement between the model prediction and experimental results was obtained. The results of this work, and the developed model, give a more realistic insight into the behaviour of fibers during foaming, and its influence on the functionality of the conductive polymer composites foams.