Issue 46, 2015

Fast mold surface temperature evolution: relevance of asymmetric surface heating for morphology of iPP molded samples

Abstract

It is widely accepted that mold temperature has a strong effect on the amount of molecular orientation and morphology developed in a non-isothermal flowing melt. In this work, this effect was investigated in fast and asymmetric thermal conditions. Therefore, a well-characterized isotactic polypropylene was injected in a rectangular mold cavity conditioned by a purpose developed thin electric heater. Temperature evolution on the mold surface influences the cooling rates near the surface that, in turn, reduces flow stresses and facilitates molecular relaxation. Moreover, asymmetrical thermal conditions have a strong influence on the melt flow field by changing its distribution along the cavity thickness. As a consequence, the morphology distribution of the molded samples was asymmetric and showed complex and peculiar features. It was accurately characterized by optical microscopy and FESEM analysis and compared with the orientation distribution obtained by birefringence measurements.

Graphical abstract: Fast mold surface temperature evolution: relevance of asymmetric surface heating for morphology of iPP molded samples

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Mar 2015
Accepted
15 Apr 2015
First published
15 Apr 2015

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 36434-36448

Fast mold surface temperature evolution: relevance of asymmetric surface heating for morphology of iPP molded samples

S. Liparoti, A. Sorrentino, G. Guzman, M. Cakmak and G. Titomanlio, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 36434 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA04383B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements