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Bimodal Microcellular Morphology Evaluation in ABS‐Foamed Composites Developed Using Step‐Wise Depressurization Foaming Process
Author(s) -
G Radhakrishna,
Dugad Rupesh,
Gandhi Abhishek
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.25265
Subject(s) - materials science , nucleation , cabin pressurization , microstructure , composite material , acrylonitrile butadiene styrene , fabrication , cell size , process (computing) , blowing agent , computer science , medicine , chemistry , alternative medicine , organic chemistry , biology , operating system , pathology , polyurethane , microbiology and biotechnology
In this article, the fabrication of bimodal type of cellular structures and multimodal type of cellular structures of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene foams has been reported using solid‐state batch foaming process by distinct, stepwise depressurization technique. Each depressurization step induces a distinct nucleation phenomenon, which leads to the development of multimodal cellular microstructures. The significance of crucial process parameters, which includes saturation pressure, holding pressure, holding time and holding steps, was studied in the development of bimodal and multimodal cellular structures. Further, the influence of the depressurization rate on the volume ratio of small cells to large cells vice versa was also studied. The morphological attributes, which includes cell size, cell density, and cell morphologies, were investigated in detail. This study puts forward a basic mechanism to develop and simultaneously control bimodal and multimodal cellular microstructures by altering the crucial process parameters. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 60:113–131, 2020. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers