Microcellular foam injection molding with physical blowing agent (MuCell®) delivers monetary benefits, processing advantages and freedom of product design by reducing shrinkage. In conjunction with an advanced mold technology, so-called Pull and Foam method, there is great potential in controlling the foam structure of the component locally. In this study, Polycarbonate (PC) components were produced with nearly compact outer skin and a closed cellular core. To understand the relation between processing parameters and the consequential properties, blowing agent concentration, injection velocity, and mold temperature were varied. Cell size, thickness of the skin layer, distance between cells and the density of the component were correlated to the processing parameters. Reflected light-microscopy (RLM) was used for 2D structure characterization. X-ray micro-computer tomography (μCT) was utilized to gain an insight on the sphericity of cells. Therefore, merged and elongated cells were also taken into account to create microcellular foamed parts with exactly defined properties.
@inproceedings{doi:10.17170/kobra-202206216374,
author ={Heim, Hans-Peter and Güzel, Kübra},
keywords ={660 and Spritzgießen and Schaumkunststoff and Mikrostruktur and Mechanische Eigenschaft and Treibmittel and Polycarbonate},
title ={The Effect of Injection Molding Parameters on Microcellular Foam Morphology},
copyright ={http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
language ={en},
year ={2021}
}