Search results for " Moulding"
showing 10 items of 19 documents
The use of artificial intelligence techniques to optimise and control injection moulding processes
1999
In the paper a typical injection moulding process on a single-screw extrusion machine aimed to the production of axisymmetric polypropylene dishes for alimentary use has been investigated. First of all the most important process parameters have been individuated; subsequently a wide testing hyperspace has been investigated, at varying the process parameters in a large range. For each combination both some geometrical characteristics of the obtained component have been measured and the occurrence of defects has been verified. The largest part of the available data have been used to train a neural network aimed to explain the process dynamics. Furthermore an offline control system, based on f…
From measuring to revealing. 7 Paradigmatic actions for the construction of models as tools of representation
2017
L’esperienza maturata nel corso della ricerca: Progettazione, Organizzazione e Gestione di un nuovo Laboratorio di modellistica: metodologie, materiali e strumenti, (piani cazione, organizzazione e gestione di un nuovo laboratorio di modellazione: metodologie, materiali e strumenti), presso il Politecnico di Milano, è il background di questo articolo proposto per la giornata di studi. Da questa esperienza il testo si concentra sul set-up della seguente dichiarazione: il modello architettonico come strumento di rappresentazione. L’obiettivo è quello di formulare alcune procedure metodologiche, attraverso sette diverse azioni di progetto: scavo, taglio, piegatura, stratificazione, intaglio, m…
Isotactic polypropylene solidification under pressure and high cooling rates. A master curve approach
2000
Solidification in industrial processes very often involves flow fields, high thermal gradients and high pressures: the development of a model able to describe the polymer behavior becomes complex. Recently a new equipment has been developed and improved to study the crystallization of polymers when quenched under pressure. An experimental apparatus based on a modified, special injection moulding machine has been employed. Polymer samples can be cooled at a known cooling rate up to 100 °C/s and under a constant pressure up to 40 MPa. Density, Micro Hardness (MH), Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and annealing measurements were then used to characterize the obtained sample morphology. Res…
Processing and Properties of Biopolymer/Polyhydroxyalkanoates Blends
2011
In this paper, the processability and the performance of a biodegradable polymer, Mater-Bi, and of its blends with either a sample of poly (hydroxy alkanoates) (PHA) or with bacterial biomass containing PHAs were compared. Adding PHA or directly the biomass containing it allows improving the processability of the matrix. Moreover, the mechanical behaviour of the systems was compared considering two different preparation methods, namely compression and injection moulding. The injection moulded samples show poorer mechanical performances than those of the compression moulded systems. The impact strength significantly improves when PHA is added while it reduces when bacterial biomass is used i…
The role of crystalline, mobile amorphous and rigid amorphous fractions in the performance of recycled poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
2012
[EN] The action of thermo-mechanical degradation induced by mechanical recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) was simulated by successive injection moulding cycles. Degradation reactions provoked chain scissions and a reduction in molar mass mainly driven by the reduction of diethyleneglycol to ethylene glycol units in the flexible domain of the PET backbone, and the formation of -OH terminated species with shorter chain length. The consequent microstructural changes were quantified taking into account a three-fraction model involving crystalline, mobile amorphous (MAF) and rigid amorphous fractions (RAF). A remarkable increase of RAF, to a detriment of MAF was observed, while the percen…
Recycling of a starch-based biodegradable polymer
2002
A new starch-based polymeric system, ZI1OU from Novamont, mainly composed of starch and polycaprolactone, was reprocessed several times in an extruder to investigate the recyclability of this biodegradable polymer. A previous investigation of the thermomechanical degradation in a mixer has been also done. The degradation is mostly due to the thermal stress but the presence of the mechanical stress strongly increases the degradation kinetic. During melt processing two concurrent processes take place: the first is the degradation, i.e. the breaking and shortening of polymeric chains, mostly occurring in the PCL phase; the second is the formation of some crosslinked structure in the starch pha…
Processing and mechanical properties of organic filer-polypropylene composites
2005
The addition of organic fillers into thermoplastic polymers is an interesting issue, which has had growing consideration and experimentation during the last years. It can give rise to several advantages. First, the cost of these fillers is usually very low. Also, the organic fillers are biodegradable (thus contributing to an improved environmental impact), and finally, some mechanical and thermomechanical properties can be enhanced. In this study, the effect of the addition of different organic fillers on the mechanical properties and processability of an extrusion-grade polypropylene were investigated. The organic fillers came from natural sources (wood, kenaf, and sago) and were compared …
Improved method of manufacturing carbon nanotube infused multifunctional 3D woven composites
2021
This research work aimed to develop smart multifunctional composites via a process for uniformly dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNT) on an orthogonal three-dimensional (3D) woven glass fabric with minimised filtering effect. These smart composites could detect strain under tensile and flexural loading by the piezoresistive response of the infused CNT network. Conventional vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding was modified to control the infusion of 0.25 wt% CNT on the 3D woven glass fabric by varying the vacuum pressure. Results showed that at 101.3 kPa vacuum pressure, the CNT percolated through the thickness of the orthogonal 3D woven glass fabric while being marginally filtered by the f…
X-ray micro-computed tomography investigation of fibre length degradation during the processing steps of short-fibre composites
2014
The mechanical properties of composites in the fibre direction are mainly attributed to the fibre slenderness, or aspect ratio. A trade-off between performance and processability is usually required, and dependent on the intended application. If the fibre length could be retained or not severely degraded during various processing steps towards the injection-moulded component, a stiffer and stronger composite product could be obtained. The processing steps for injection moulded wood-fibre composites here include: Pulping, commingling, extrusion, pelletizing, and injection moulding. To tune the processing parameters systematically for retained fibre length, it would be useful to investigate t…
DEGRADATION OF MATER-BI /WOOD FLOUR BIOCOMPOSITES IN ACTIVE SEWAGE SLUDGE
2009
The mechanical properties of Mater-Bi® are, in general, not adequate for certain applications and the addition of a filler is therefore necessary. Among the different fillers, natural fibres are particularly interesting because they potentially allow improving the performance of the material without compromising its biodegradability. In order to improve the basic mechanical properties of a Mater-Bi grade and to obtain a new, fully biodegradable material, wood flour based composites were prepared by different processing methods. To simulate actual and not laboratory bacterial attack on the prepared materials, in this work we studied the biodegradation of the composites in a real active sewag…