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. 2020 May 20;13(10):2358.
doi: 10.3390/ma13102358.

A Design of Experiment Approach for Surface Roughness Comparisons of Foam Injection-Moulding Methods

Gethin Llewelyn  1 , Andrew Rees  1 , Christian Griffiths  1 , Martin Jacobi  2
Affiliations

A Design of Experiment Approach for Surface Roughness Comparisons of Foam Injection-Moulding Methods

Gethin Llewelyn et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

The pursuit of polymer parts produced through foam injection moulding (FIM) that have a comparable surface roughness to conventionally processed components are of major relevance to expand the application of FIM. Within this study, 22% talc-filled copolymer polypropylene (PP) parts were produced through FIM using both a physical and chemical blowing agent. A design of experiments (DoE) was performed whereby the processing parameters of mould temperatures, injection speeds, back-pressure, melt temperature and holding time were varied to determine their effect on surface roughness, Young's modulus and tensile strength. The results showed that mechanical performance can be improved when processing with higher mould temperatures and longer holding times. Also, it was observed that when utilising chemical foaming agents (CBA) at low-pressure, surface roughness comparable to that obtained from conventionally processed components can be achieved. This research demonstrates the potential of FIM to expand to applications whereby weight saving can be achieved without introducing surface defects, which has previously been witnessed within FIM.

Keywords: Foam Injection Moulding; MuCell®; Polypropylene; Talc; TecoCell®.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pressure-Volume-Temperature data of the copolymer polypropylene used in this research.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Moulded part geometry, thickness is 4 (dimensions in millimetres).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Main effects plot for the mean Young’s modulus (E) results from the DoE.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Main effects plot for the mean maximum tensile strength (Su) results from the DoE.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Main effects plot for the Ra results from the DoE.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Main effects plot for the Rq results from the DoE.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) Young’s modulus (E) and (b) ultimate tensile strength (Su) data of a physical blowing agent (PBA) compared to a similarly processed chemical blowing agent (CBA).
Figure 8
Figure 8
(a) Ra and (b) Rq data of a physical blowing agent compared to a similarly processed chemical blowing agent.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Visual comparison between the conventional, PBA and CBA parts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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