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The Use of the Indentation Test for Studying the Solidification Behaviour of Different Semicrystalline Polymers during Injection Molding
Author(s) -
La Carrubba Vincenzo,
Gabriëlse Wouter,
Piccarolo Stefano
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.200500216
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , molding (decorative) , polymer , indentation , crystallinity , polyamide , injection moulding , mold
Summary: An in‐line method for monitoring the solidification process during injection molding of semicrystalline polymers (demonstrated previously in J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2003 , 89 , 3713) is based on a simple device, where an additional ejector pin is pushed on the injection molded part at different times during the solidification phase. The ‘indentation depth profile’, i.e., residual deformation as a function of time, was obtained and allowed to determine the evolution of the solidification front in the mold as a function of the cooling time. The present work shows the reliability and the powerfulness of the aforementioned method for a large variety of different semicrystalline polymers (PET, PBT, polyamide‐6 PA6, isotactic poly(propylene) iPP) characterized also by different molecular weight and/or nucleating agents. The results show that the indentation test may be considered as a ‘predictive’ tool to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the solidification process of different polymers and polymer grades during injection molding.Comparison of the solid front propagation during injection molding of different materials.