OPTIMIZATION OF INJECTION PROCESS PARAMETERS OF PLASTIC REINFORCED COMPOSITES USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY AND CENTRAL COMPOSITE DESIGN

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADEFEMI O. ADEODU ◽  
MUKONDELELI G. KANAKANA-KATUMBA ◽  
RENDANI W. MALADZHI ◽  
ILESANMI A. DANIYAN

The injection molding process is among the most efficient processes for mass production of polymer products with complex geometry at optimal cost. This study investigates the effect of the injection parameters on the cavity pressure, tensile and microstructural properties of plastic-reinforced composites and optimized the process to determine the optimum injection parameters using the Response Surface Methodology and central composite design. The two polymer composite materials used for this work are low-density polyethylene reinforced with aluminium powder (LDPE/Al) and low-density polyethylene reinforced with carbon black (LDPE/CB) at 250 and 200oC injection temperature respectively. The analysis of the results obtained from both the numerical and physical experimentations were used to obtain two predictive models which correlate cavity pressure and tensile strength as a function of the independent process parameters namely, injection pressure and time. An injection pressure of 70 MPa and time of 1.00 sec was found to be optimum producing a cavity pressure of 37.658 MPa while an injection pressure of 70 MPa and time of 1.75 sec was found to be optimum producing a material with tensile strength of 7.41 MPa. The results indicate that the cavity pressure increases with an increase in the injection pressure but decreases with an increase in the injection time for the two analyzed polymer composites. The study shows that process parameters have significant effects on the cavity pressure, mechanical and microstructural properties of LDPE/Al and LDPE/CB.

2013 ◽  
Vol 371 ◽  
pp. 534-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ionut Laurentiu Sandu ◽  
Felicia Stan ◽  
Catalin Fetecau

The objective of this paper consists in the determination of the flow front length using o circular spiral mold. The paper also studies the influence of the process parameters on the flow front length using the method of statistical analysis. For this purpose, a number of numerical simulations are carried out by utilizing the combination of four process parameters (i.e., the melt temperature, the spiral thickness, the injection pressure and the mold temperature) at three levels. In order to reduce the number of numerical simulations, a simplistic Taguchi L27orthogonal array was chosen. The material chosen for this study was a low density polyethylene and a high density polyethylene. The flow front length was measured through a marked pattern of the circular spiral using the AutoCAD.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2436
Author(s):  
Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed ◽  
Martina Meincken

Low-cost wood–plastic composites (WPCs) were developed from invasive trees and recycled low-density polyethylene. The aim was to produce affordable building materials for low-cost social housing in South Africa. Both raw materials are regarded as waste materials, and the subsequent product development adds value to the resources, while simultaneously reducing the waste stream. The production costs were minimised by utilising the entire biomass of Acacia saligna salvaged from clearing operations without any prior processing, and low-grade recycled low-density polyethylene to make WPCs without any additives. Different biomass/plastic ratios, particle sizes, and press settings were evaluated to determine the optimum processing parameters to obtain WPCs with adequate properties. The water absorption, dimensional stability, modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, tensile strength, and tensile moduli were improved at longer press times and higher temperatures for all blending ratios. This has been attributed to the crystallisation of the lignocellulose and thermally induced cross-linking in the polyethylene. An increased biomass ratio and particle size were positively correlated with water absorption and thickness swelling and inversely related with MOR, tensile strength, and density due to an incomplete encapsulation of the biomass by the plastic matrix. This study demonstrates the feasibility of utilising low-grade recycled polyethylene and the whole-tree biomass of A. saligna, without the need for pre-processing and the addition of expensive modifiers, to produce WPCs with properties that satisfy the minimum requirements for interior cladding or ceiling material.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
Ibiyemi A. Idowu ◽  
Olutosin O. Ilori

The study examined the effect of fillers on the mechanical properties of the recycled low density polyethylene composites under weathered condition with a view of managing the generation and disposal of plastic wastes. Discarded pure water sachets and fillers (glass and talc) were sourced and recycled. Recycled low density polyethylene (RLDPE) and preparation of RLDPE/glass, RLDPE/talc and RLDPE/glass/talc composites were carried out using a furnace at compositions of 0 – 40% in steps of 10% by weight. The mixtures were poured into hand-laid mould. The samples produced were exposed to sunlight for eight (8) weeks and their mechanical properties were studied. The results of mechanical tests revealed that tensile strength decreased with increasing filler loading while impact strength and hardness property increased marginally and considerably with increasing filler loading for all the composites respectively. The study concluded that glass and talc were able to reinforce recycled low density polyethylene under weathered condition. Keywords: Recycled Low Density Polyethylene (RLDPE); Fillers; Glass, Talc; Weathering condition; Sunlight; and Mechanical properties; Tensile strength, Impact and hardness


2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 543-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Chen ◽  
S. Chen ◽  
J. Zhang

The surfactant, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (NaDDBS) and coupling agents, γ-aminopropyltriethoxy sliane (KH550) and isopropyl dioleic(dioctylphosphate) titanate (NDZ101) were used to treat multiwalled carbon nanotubes in this work. The effects of surface modification of multiwalled carbon nanotubes on crystallization behavior, mechanical properties, and electrical properties of low density polyethylene/polyolefin elastomer/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites were studied. The results showed that NaDDBS, KH550, and NDZ101 had a favorable effect of improving the dispersion of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, but it cannot improve the interfacial interactionbetween multiwalled carbon nanotubes and the matrix. The improvement in dispersion favored the crystallization behavior and mechanical properties. Modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes had a better acceleration nucleation effect than raw multiwalled carbon nanotubes on low density polyethylene/polyolefin elastomer blends at low content (≤1 wt%). The tensile strength of low density polyethylene/polyolefin elastomer/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites with modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes increased with lower multiwalled carbon nanotubes content (≤1 wt%), and KH550 and NDZ101 led low density polyethylene/polyolefin elastomer/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites to possess a higher tensile strength than that of NaDDBS with 1 wt% content. NaDDBS, KH550, and NDZ101 had a minor influence on the dielectric properties of the composites and even caused a decrease in the dielectric loss of composites with 10 wt% multiwalled carbon nanotubes content.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suthakarn Auksornkul ◽  
Siriwat Soontaranon ◽  
Chonthicha Kaewhan ◽  
Pattarapan Prasassarakich

A series of linear low-density polyethylene films were produced using a three-layer co-extrusion machine. How the blow-up ratio and resin characteristics affected the final film morphology and engineering properties were studied. The crystalline morphology and orientation during the blown film process of the low-density polyethylene film were investigated using small-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Increasing the blow-up ratio increased the transverse direction molecular orientation and decreased the machine direction orientation. The resulting low-density polyethylene morphology was a regular lamellar stacking parallel to the machine direction. The film morphology strongly influenced the mechanical properties. Increasing the blow-up ratio from 1.7 to 2.8 decreased the machine direction tensile strength by 14% and increased the transverse direction tensile strength up to 27% for both the low-density polyethylene/1-butene and low-density polyethylene/1-octene co-monomers, while the machine direction tear strength increased up to 36% and the transverse direction decreased by 16%. Moreover, the first and second heating characteristics from differential scanning calorimeter showed the inherent crystallinity change with increasing blow-up ratio for both the low-density polyethylene/1-octene and the low-density polyethylene/1-butene copolymer. The crystalline orientation changes induced with increasing blow-up ratio affected the film water vapor and oxygen permeability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitin Panaskar ◽  
Ravi Prakash Terkar

Purpose Recently, several studies have been performed on lap welding of aluminum and copper using friction stir welding (FSW). The formation of intermetallic compounds at the weld interface hampers the weld quality. The use of an intermediate layer of a compatible material during welding reduces the formation of intermetallic compounds. The purpose of this paper is to optimize the FSW process parameters for AA6063-ETP copper weld, using a compatible zinc intermediate filler metal. Design/methodology/approach In the present study, a three-level, three-factor central composite design (CCD) has been used to determine the effect of various process parameters, namely, tool rotational speed, tool traverse speed and thickness of inter-filler zinc foil on ultimate tensile strength of the weld. A total of 60 experimental data were fitted in the CCD. The experiments were performed with tool rotational speeds of 1,000, 1,200 and 1,400 rpm each of them with tool traverse speeds of 5, 10 and 15 mm/min. A zinc inter-filler foil of 0.2 and 0.4 mm was also used. The macrograph of the weld surface under different process parameters and the tensile strength of the weld have been investigated. Findings The feasibility of joining 3 mm thick AA6063-ETP copper using zinc inter-filler is established. The regression analysis showed a good fit of the experimental data to the second-order polynomial model with a coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.9759 and model F-value of 240.33. A good agreement between the prediction model and experimental findings validates the reliability of the developed model. The tool rotational speed, tool traverse speed and thickness of inter-filler zinc foil significantly affected the tensile strength of the weld. The optimal conditions found for the weld were, rotational speed of 1,212.83 rpm and traverse speed of 9.63 mm/min and zinc foil thickness is 0.157 mm; by using optimized values, ultimate tensile strength of 122.87 MPa was achieved, from the desirability function. Originality/value Aluminium and copper sheets could be joined feasibly using a zinc inter-filler. The maximum tensile strength of joints formed by inter-filler (122.87 MPa) was significantly better as compared to those without using inter-filler (83.78 MPa). The optimum process parameters to achieve maximum tensile strength were found by CCD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 299 ◽  
pp. 94-99
Author(s):  
Vasily Ovchinnikov ◽  
Elena E. Mastalygina ◽  
Petr Pantyukhov

Polymer composite based on multilayer combined packaging wastes was prepared and investigated. The composite was made of tetrahedral package wastes, where cardboard part was removed. It was found that obtained composite material has blended polymer matrix that consists of low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene and polypropylene. Melting temperature of individual polymers in composite shifts to lower temperatures than that of the initial components. It is the evidence of destruction process or interaction between polymers. The hard particles of aluminum and cellulose are uniformly distributed in the composite. For that reason, these particles do not reduce melt fluidity significantly. The tensile strength and elasticity modulus are higher for the obtained material compared to pure polyethylene. The results show a high potential for the use of the developed composite material.


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