pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S03 - Injection Molding and Micromolding
Oral Presentation
 
 

Improvement of weld lines appearance and strength by means of push-pull and rapid heat cycle injection molding

Scantamburlo Andrea (1)*, Sorgato Marco (1), Zanini Filippo (2), Lucchetta Giovanni (1)

(1) University of Padova - Padova - Italy, (2) Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, - Vicenza - Italy

The phenomenon of metal replacement that has characterized the automotive sector in recent years, has promoted a great thrust for the development of thermoplastic composite materials by virtue of their lightness, high specific mechanical properties, low production cost and their recyclability. On the other hand, these materials are characterized by a strong anisotropy due to the local morphology induced by the manufacturing process. Moreover, for large components that require multiple injection locations or if there are features that generate a separation and the subsequent re-joining of the flow front, the formation of a weld line is inevitable. Such a defect compromises the local mechanical performance of the molded component. However, it is possible to modify the material morphology associated with the weld line, promoting an imbalance between the flow fronts that generate a motion field after the complete filling of the cavity, thus favouring an interpenetration of the fronts and a reinforcement reorientation. However, it is not possible to eliminate the defect in the outermost layers of the component where the polymer freezes in contact with the cold mold surface. In this work, in addition to the push-pull process, a rapid heat cycle molding (RHCM) was implemented to delay the material freezing in the cavity. The combination effect of dynamic packing and rapid heat cycle molding on the mechanical properties was investigated in this work, analysing also the morphology of the region interested by the weld line formation for a 35% glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene. Compared to conventional injection molding, the technology combination allows to obtain an increase in the strength of the specimen section of more than 200% and an increase in stiffness of approximately 46%. The thermal effect induced by the RHCM system allows to reduce the thickness of the skin frozen layer with misaligned fiber while the push-pull process generates a reorientation of the reinforcement even in the innermost layers of the core where a random orientation distribution is usually observed. Keywords: weld line; fiber-reinforced polypropylene; push-pull process; rapid heating heat