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Plastics PDF

This document discusses different types of plastics, focusing on thermoplastics and thermosets. It describes how thermoplastics can be repeatedly heated and molded, while thermosets permanently cure during heating. The key mechanical, physical and processing properties of thermoplastics are outlined, including common molding techniques like injection molding, blow molding and reaction injection molding. Extrusion, injection molding, and blow molding processes are explained at a high-level.

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V Phanindra Bogu
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243 views

Plastics PDF

This document discusses different types of plastics, focusing on thermoplastics and thermosets. It describes how thermoplastics can be repeatedly heated and molded, while thermosets permanently cure during heating. The key mechanical, physical and processing properties of thermoplastics are outlined, including common molding techniques like injection molding, blow molding and reaction injection molding. Extrusion, injection molding, and blow molding processes are explained at a high-level.

Uploaded by

V Phanindra Bogu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Plastics

By
Dr. V Phanindra Bogu
Dept. of Mech. Engg.
Introduction to Plastics
• Plastics can be shaped into a wide variety of
products, such as molded parts, extruded sections,
films and sheets, insulation coatings on electrical
wires, and fibers for textiles.
Types of plastics
• A polymer is a compound consisting of long-chain
molecules, each molecule made up of repeating
units connected together.
• Polymers can be separated into plastics and
rubbers.
• The two types of plastics are thermoplastics (TP)
and thermosets (TS).
• The difference is that thermosets undergo a curing
process during heating and shaping, which causes a
permanent chemical change (cross-linking) in their
molecular structure.
Types of plastics
Thermoplastic polymers, also called thermoplastics (TP),
are solid materials at room temperature, but they become
viscous liquids when heated to temperatures of only a few
hundred degrees. This characteristic allows them to be
easily and economically shaped into products. They can be
subjected to this heating and cooling cycle repeatedly
without significant degradation of the polymer.
Thermosetting polymers, or thermosets (TS), cannot
tolerate repeated heating cycles as thermoplastics can.
When initially heated, they soften and flow for molding, but
the elevated temperatures also produce a chemical reaction
that hardens the material into an infusible solid. If reheated,
thermosetting polymers degrade and char rather than
soften.
Elastomers are the rubbers. Elastomers (E) are polymers
that exhibit extreme elastic extensibility when subjected to
relatively low mechanical stress.
Mechanical Properties
The typical thermoplastic at room temperature is
characterized by the following:

1. Much lower stiffness, the modulus of elasticity being


two (in some cases, three) orders of magnitude lower
than metals and ceramics.
2. Lower tensile strength, about 10% of the metals.
3. Lower hardness
4. Greater ductility on average, but there is a
tremendous range of values, from 1% elongation for
polystyrene to 500% or more for polypropylene.
Mechanical properties of thermoplastics
depend on temperature.
• The functional
relationships must be
discussed in the context of
amorphous and crystalline
structures.
• < Tg Amorphous
thermoplastics are rigid
and glass-like
• >Tg flexible or rubber-like.
• As temperature increases
above Tg , the polymer
becomes increasingly soft,
finally becoming a viscous
fluid.
Physical Properties
• In general, thermoplastic polymers have the following
characteristics
• Lower densities than metals or ceramics—typical specific
gravities for polymers are around 1.2, for ceramics around
2.5, and for metals around 7.0.
• Much higher coefficient of thermal expansion—roughly five
times the value for metals and 10 times the value for
ceramics.
• Much lower melting temperatures
• Specific heats that are two to four times those of metals and
ceramics
• Thermal conductivities that are about three orders of
magnitude lower than those of metals; and Insulating
electrical properties.
Extrusion of plastics
• Extrusion is a compression process in which
material is forced to flow through a die orifice to
provide long continuous product whose cross-
sectional shape is determined by the shape of the
orifice
Injection Molding
• Injection molding is a process in which a polymer is
heated to a highly plastic state and forced to flow
under high pressure into a mold cavity, where it
solidifies.
• The molded part, called a molding, is then removed
from the cavity.
• The process produces discrete components that are
almost always net shape.
• The production cycle time is typically in the range
of 10 to 30 sec, although cycles of 1 min or longer
are not uncommon for large parts.
• Complex and intricate shapes are possible with
injection molding.
• Part size can range from about 50g up to about 25kg.
• The upper limit represented by components such as
refrigerator doors and automobile bumpers.
• Injection molding is the most widely used molding
process for thermoplastics.
• Some thermosets and elastomers are injection molded,
with modifications in equipment and operating
parameters to allow for cross-linking of these materials.
• The injection unit is much like an extruder. It consists of a barrel
that is fed from one end by a hopper containing a supply of
plastic pellets.
• Inside the barrel is a screw whose operation surpasses that of an
extruder screw in the following respect: in addition to turning for
mixing and heating the polymer, it also acts as a ram that rapidly
moves forward to inject molten plastic into the mold.
• A nonreturn valve mounted near the tip of the screw prevents the
melt from flowing backward along the screw threads.
• The clamping unit is concerned with the operation of the mold.
Its functions are to
(1) hold the two halves of the mold in proper alignment with each other.
(2) keep the mold closed during injection by applying a clamping force
sufficient to resist the injection force.
(3) open and close the mold at the appropriate times in the molding cycle.
• The clamping unit consists of two platens, a fixed platen and a
movable platen, and a mechanism for translating the latter.
• The mechanism is basically a power press that is operated by
hydraulic piston or mechanical toggle devices of various types.
Clamping forces of several thousand tons are available on large
machines.
Molding cycle

FIGURE. Typical molding cycle: (1) mold is closed, (2) melt is injected into cavity, (3)
screw is retracted, and (4) mold opens, and part is ejected.
Reaction injection molding
• Reaction injection molding (RIM)
involves the mixing of two highly
reactive liquid ingredients and
immediately injecting the mixture
into a mold cavity, where chemical
reactions leading to solidification
occur.
• The two ingredients form the
components used in catalyst-
activated or mixing-activated
thermoset systems.
• Urethanes, epoxies, and urea-
formaldehyde are examples of
these systems.
• RIM was developed with
polyurethane to produce large
automotive components such as
bumpers, spoilers, and fenders.
Blow molding
• Blow molding is a molding process in which air pressure is
used to inflate soft plastic inside a mold cavity.
• It is an important industrial process for making one-piece
hollow plastic parts with thin walls, such as bottles and
similar containers.
• Because many of these items are used for consumer
beverages for mass markets, production is typically
organized for very high quantities.

• Blow molding is accomplished in two steps:


(1) fabrication of a starting tube of molten plastic, called a
parison (same as in glass-blowing)
(2) inflation of the tube to the desired final shape.
• Forming the parison is accomplished by either
1) Extrusion blow molding
2) Injection blow molding
Extrusion Blow molding

FIGURE. Extrusion blow molding: (1) extrusion of parison; (2) parison is pinched at the
top and sealed at the bottom around a metal blow pin as the two halves of the mold
come together; (3) the tube is inflated so that it takes the shape of the mold cavity;
and (4) mold is opened to remove the solidified part.
Injection blow molding

FIGURE. Injection blow molding: (1) parison is injected molded around a blowing
rod; (2) injection mold is opened, and parison is transferred to a blow mold; (3) soft
polymer is inflated to conform to the blow mold; and(4) blow mold is opened, and
blown product is removed.
Thank you

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