A Study on the Warpage of Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics for Part Design and Operation Condition: Part 2. Crystalline Plastics

Injection molding process is a popular polymer processing involving plasticizing and enforcing the material flow into the mold. A polymer material shrinks according to temperature variations during the shaping process, and subsequently molding shrinkage developed. Developed deflections or warpages after molding process in part are caused by residual stress relaxation contained in the part. Adding inorganic materials or fibers such as glass and carbon to control shrinkage and enhance warpage resistance are common. In this study, warpages according to part design have been investigated through experiment. Warpages for molding conditions and mold designs such as gate locations were measured. Warpages along flow direction and perpendicular to the flow direction were also measured. Warpages near gate and far from gate were compared. Glass fiber reinforced crystalline polymers, PP and PA66 have been used in this experiment. Glass fiber reinforced crystalline polymers showed large warpage compared with glass reinforced amorphous polymers. Warpages in crystalline polymers were less influenced by molding conditions compared with amorphous polymers, however warpages of crystalline polymers significantly depend on part design.