Moulding process

Oliveira et al. (2003) Degradation of Kinetic modeling of PP Final degree of 

More recent work has extended the modelling of reactive extrusion processes to full-scale process modelling by the combination of kinetic, chemorheological and flow/energy-balance modelling. This work is summarized in Table 6.2, highlighting the system used, the model description and the expected model outputs. Full references are provided for readers with further interest in these models. 

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Note The injection/compression moulding process capability maps 1, 2 and 3 are used for large parts with a major dimension greater than 50 mm typically and/or for large production volumes. Map 4 is for injection moulded parts that have a major dimension less than 150 mm and which are produced in small volumes. 

SHELL MOULDING PROCESS CAPA9 LITY MAP FOR ALUMINIUM AND MAGNESIUM ALLOYS... 

COUPHESSION MOULDING PROCESS CAPABILITY MAP FOn COMPOSITE MATERIALS... 

The setting of these materials after shaping occurs via a chemical process, that of cross-linking. The most common process is moulding but some extrusion, sintering and other miscellaneous processes are also used. A typical compression moulding process is illustrated in Figure 8.12. 

Polynorbomene is also of interest to the plastics processor since by using a dry blending process for mixing and a modified injection moulding process for fabricating, the use of conventional rubber-processing equipment may be avoided. 

In recent years rotational casting methods have made the slush moulding process virtually obsolete. In these processes an amount of material equal to the weight of the finished product is poured into a mould. The mould is then closed and rotated slowly about two axes so that the paste flows easily over the cavity walls in an oven at about 200-250°C. When the compound has gelled, the moulds are cooled and the moulding removed. Compared with the slush moulding process there is no wastage of material, little flash, and more even wall thickness. Completely enclosed hollow articles such as playballs are most conveniently made. 

Paste injection moulding processes have also been developed. In one technique used for applying PVC soles to shoe uppers the paste is injected by gas under pressure into a hot mould, the last and shoe upper forming the top half of the mould. The paste gels in the mould, adheres to the upper in the presence of a suitable adhesive and is stripped hot from the mould. 

Whilst it is possible to purchase standard equipment for the steam moulding process, attempts continue to be made to make sweeping modifications to the process. These include the use of dielectric and microwave heating and the development of semicontinuous and continuous processes. 

One alternative approach to the two-stage steam moulding process is that in which impregnated beads are fed directly to an injection moulding machine or extruder so that expansion and consolidation occur simultaneously. This approach has been used to produce expanded polystyrene sheet and paper by a tubular process reminiscent of that used with polyethylene. Bubble nucleating... 

Other, more recently developed, uses include microwave oven parts, transparent pipelines, chemical plant pumps and coffee machine hot water dispensers. One exceptional use has been to produce, by an extrusion moulding process, very large rollers for textile finishing for use where cast nylons cannot meet the specification. Also of growing interest are medical equipment applications that may be repeatedly steam-sterilised at 134°C, filtration membranes and cartridges for ink-jet printers. 

Whilst the injection moulding process has now been widely accepted for phenolics the transition from compression moulding has been less extensive with U-F materials. The basic reason for this is that the U-F materials are more difficult to mould. This has been associated with filler orientation during moulding, which can lead to stress peaks in the finished product which the somewhat brittle resin in less able to withstand than can a phenolic resin. 

Benzoyl peroxide is most commonly used for elevated temperature curing. The peroxide is generally supplied as a paste (-50%) in a liquid such as dimethyl phthalate to reduce explosion hazards and to facilitate mixing. The curing cycle in pressure moulding processes is normally less than five minutes. 

There are also two variants of the direct foam moulding process the so called hot moulding process and the cold moulding process. 

If the material has a critical stress intensity factor of 1.8 MN m and it is known that the moulding process produces defects 40 m long, estimate the maximum repeated tensile stress which could be applied to this material for at least 10 cycles without causing fatigue failure. 

The convention extrusion blow moulding process may be continuous or intermittent. In the former method the extruder continuously supplies molten polymer through the annular die. In most cases the mould assembly moves relative to the die. When the mould has closed around the parison, a hot knife separates the latter from the extruder and the mould moves away for inflation, cooling and ejection of the moulding. Meanwhile the next parison will have been produced and this mould may move back to collect it or, in multi-mould systems, this would have been picked up by another mould. Alternatively in some machines the mould assembly is fixed and the required length of parison is cut off and transported to the mould by a robot arm. 

Fig. 4.61 illustrates that the mould temperature is quite different from the set oven temperature (330°C) or indeed the actual oven temperature, throughout the moulding cycle. An even more important observation is that in order to control the rotational moulding process it is desirable to monitor the temperature of the air inside the mould. This is possible because there is normally a vent tube through the mould wall in order to ensure equal pressures inside and outside the mould. This vent tube provides an easy access for a thermocouple to measure the internal air temperature. 

The success of transfer moulding prompted further developments in this area and clearly it was only a relatively small step to an injection moulding process for thermosets as described in Section 4.3.10. 

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