Visual Observation and Numerical Studies of Polymer Foaming Behavior of Polypropylene/Carbon Dioxide System in a Core-back Injection Molding Process

Thermoplastic foaming within a mold cavity was visualized as it was conducted in an 85-ton core-back injection-molding machine. The core-back molding process moved a section of the mold just after injecting a molten polymer into the cavity, quickly reducing the pressure to enhance the bubble nucleation. The foaming behavior during core-back was observed directly through the glass windows of the mold. In the experiments, impact copolymer polypropylene was foamed with carbon dioxide. The effects of the gas concentration and the core-back rate on bubble nucleation and growth were investigated. It was experimentally confirmed that the bubbles disappeared when the cavity was fully packed and that bubble nucleation occurred when the mold plate was moved and the cavity pressure dropped. Faster core-back rates and higher gas concentrations increased the number of bubbles while decreasing their size. To analyze the experimental results, a bubble nucleation and growth model was employed that was based on batch foaming. The numerical results were a reasonable representation of the experiments, and this study demonstrated the applicability of the conventional free foaming model to the industrial core-back molding process. Many aspects of the foaming in the core-back molding aresimilar to the behaviors observed by batch foaming. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 51: 1617-1625, 2011. (C) 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers