A novel foaming injection molding process using gas-laden pellets

  • Xiaofei Sun
  • , Lih Sheng Turng

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

A novel Supercritical fluid pellet Injection Molding Foaming (SIFT) technology for producing injection molded parts with a foamed structure has been developed. The idea is to pre-load an atmospheric gas, such as carbon dioxide (C02) or nitrogen (N2), into the plastic pellets to act as a physical blowing agent. Processing those gas- laden and ready-to-foam pellets using regular injection molding machines lowers equipment costs without sacrificing the production rate, thus making it a viable and attractive candidate for the mass production of foamed injection molded parts. This process is akin to employing a chemical blowing agent (CBA) without the typical concerns of chemical residual. The shelf life of the gas- laden pellets is an important factor in this process because the effective gas content may vary with time due to gas desorption, which could lead to variation in part quality. In this paper, research results on (1) comparison of shelf life using C02 and N2 as the blowing agent, (2) shelf life of C02-laden pellets, and (3) evaluation of effective gas content in the C02-laden pellets are presented.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSociety of Plastics Engineers - 10th International Conference on Foam Materials and Technology, FOAMS 2012
PublisherSociety of Plastics Engineers
Pages41-45
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781510808379
StatePublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes
Event10th International Conference on Foam Materials and Technology, FOAMS 2012 - Barcelona, Spain
Duration: 12 09 201213 09 2012

Publication series

NameSociety of Plastics Engineers - 10th International Conference on Foam Materials and Technology, FOAMS 2012

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Foam Materials and Technology, FOAMS 2012
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period12/09/1213/09/12

Keywords

  • Carbon dioxide
  • Micro- cellular extrusion
  • Microcellular injection molding
  • Nitrogen

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