Refine
Year of publication
- 2002 (1)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Language
- English (1) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Keywords
- Polypropylen (1) (remove)
Faculty / Organisational entity
In the last decade, injection molding of long-fiber reinforced thermoplastics
(LFT) has been established as a low-cost, high volume technique for manufacturing
parts with complex shape without any post-treatment [1–3]. Applications
are mainly found in the automotive industry with a volume annually
growing by 10% to 15% [4].
While first applications were based on polyamide (PA6 and PA6.6), the market
share of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) is growing due to cost savings
and ease of processing. With the use of polypropylene, different processing
techniques such as gas-assisted injection molding [5] or injection compression
molding [6] have emerged in addition to injection molding [7, 8].
In order to overcome or justify higher materials costs when compared to short
fiber reinforced thermoplastics, the manufacturing techniques for LFT pellets
with fiber length greater than 10mm have evolved starting from pultrusion by
improving impregnation and throughput [9] or by direct addition of fiber strands
in the mold [10–12].
The benefit of long glass fiber reinforcement either in PP or PA is mainly due
to the enhanced resistance to fiber pull-out resulting in an increase in impact
properties and strength [13–19], even at low temperature levels [20]. Creep
and fatigue resistance are also substantially improved [21, 22].
The performance of fiber reinforced thermoplastics manufactured by injection
molding strongly depends on the flow-induced microstructure which is
driven by materials composition, processing conditions and part geometry.
The anisotropic microstructure is characterized by fiber fraction and dispersion,
fiber length and fiber orientation.
Facing the complexity of this processing technique, simulation becomes a precious
tool already in the concept phase for parts manufactured by injection
molding. Process simulation supports decisions with respect to choice of concepts
and materials. The part design is determined in terms of mold filling
including location of gates, vents and weld lines. Tool design requires the
determination of melt feeding, logistics and mold heating. Subsequently, performance
including prediction of shrinkage and warpage as well as structural
analysis is evaluated [23].
While simulation based on two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional
part geometry has been extensively used during the last two decades, the
complexity of the parts as well as the trend towards solid modelling in CAD
and CAE demands the step towards three-dimensional process simulation. The scope of this work is the prediction of flow-induced microstructure during
injection molding of long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene using threedimensional
process simulation. Modelling of the injection molding process in
three dimensions is supported experimentally by rheological characterization
in both shear and extensional flow and by two- and three-dimensional evaluation
of microstructure.
In chapter 2 the fundamentals of rheometry and rheology are presented with
respect to long fiber reinforced thermoplastics. The influence of parameters
on microstructure is described and approaches for modelling the state of microstructure
and its dynamics are discussed.
Chapter 3 introduces a rheometric technique allowing for rheological characterization
of polymer melts at processing conditions as encountered during
manufacturing. Using this rheometer, both shear and extensional viscosity of
long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene are measured with respect to composition
of materials, processing conditions and geometry of the cavity.
Chapter 4 contains the evaluation of microstructure of long glass fiber reinforced
polypropylene in terms of two-dimensional fiber orientation and its dependence
on materials parameters and processing condition. For the evaluation
of three-dimensional microstructure, a technique based on x-ray tomography
is introduced.
In chapter 5, modelling of microstructural dynamics is addressed. One-way
coupling of interactions between fluid and fibers is described macroscopically.
The flow behavior of fibers in the vicinity of cavity walls is evaluated experimentally.
From these observations, a model for treatment of fiber-wall interaction
with respect to numerical simulation is proposed.
Chapter 6 presents the application of three-dimensional simulation of the injection
molding process. Mold filling simulation is performed using a commercial
code while prediction of 3D fiber orientation is based on a proprietary module.
The rheological and thermal properties derived in chapter 3 are tested by
simulation of the experiments and comparison of predicted pressure and temperature
profile versus recorded results. The performance of fiber orientation
prediction is verified using analytical solutions of test examples from literature.
The capability of three-dimensional simulation is demonstrated based on the
simulation of mold filling and prediction of fiber orientation for an automotive
part.