Fiber Orientation Analysis of Overflow Water-Assisted Injection Molding with Short Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene

The fiber orientation is playing an important performance indexed for glass fiber reinforced polypropylene for water-assisted injection molding. Based on the viscoelastic constitutive equation (White-Metzner) and the fiber orientation model (iARD-RPR), the effects of fiber mass content, water injection delay time, water injection pressure, and melt temperature, which are on the fiber orientation along the flow direction and shear rate distribution of the melt, were investigated. Studies found that the orientation degree of the fiber along the flow direction was reduced with the increase of the fiber mass content, the extension of the water injection delay time, and the improvement of the melt temperature and that the orientation degree of the fiber along the flow direction was raised with the increase of the water injection pressure flow in the laminar flow state, but it was reduced with the increase in the turbulent state. It can be further learned from the shear rate distribution that decreasing fiber mass content, reducing the water injection delay time, lower melt temperature, and increasing water injection pressure in laminar flow conditions will increase the shear rate in the channel layer and the shear rate gradient along the thickness direction of the melt, while the water injection pressure in the turbulent state is on the contrary.

Automated summary

The fiber orientation and shear rate distribution in glass fiber reinforced polypropylene during water-assisted injection molding are affected by fiber mass content, water injection delay time, water injection pressure, and melt temperature. The orientation degree of the fiber along the flow direction decreases with increasing fiber mass content, water injection delay time, and melt temperature, but increases with increasing water injection pressure in laminar flow state and decreases in turbulent state. Decreasing fiber mass content, reducing water injection delay time, lower melt temperature, and increasing water injection pressure in laminar flow conditions increase the shear rate and shear rate gradient, while the opposite is observed in turbulent state.