Flow characteristics of highly filled polymers for powder injection molding

Bek, Marko (author), Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Joamin (author), Kukla, Christian (author), Slemenik Perše, Lidija (author)

Powder Injection Molding (PIM) is a 4-step manufacturing procedure for making ceramic or metallic components. It enables production of very small and precisely made components and is therefore ideal for gear production. The production process starts with compounding thermoplastic polymer and metallic or ceramic powder to form a highly-filled composite or feedstock. Feedstock is used to produce green part, usually with injection molding. In following steps, the polymeric components are removed in the debinding step and the final components are obtained by sintering. The rheological behaviour of these feedstocks is crucial for the manufacturing process and final properties of gears. The flow properties of feedstock material depend on several factors: the amount of fillers in the polymer, the particle size distribution and shape of particles, the nature of the filler and the polymer matrix, and the use of coupling agents. Within this paper we investigate the effects of the nature of fillers with similar size distribution on the rheological behaviour of feedstocks. The fillers with different densities and particle surface were compounded with a polymer/wax binder system with three different powder loadings. Rheological measurements showed that there are significant differences between feedstocks behaviour and this should be considered at the manufacturing stage.

• Language: English
• Keywords: highly filled composites, powder injection molding, melt flow, rheological properties, particle size distribution, powder loading
• Typology: 1.08 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Year: 2018
• Number of pages: Datoteka Session VI/6_BEK et al._Flow characteristics ... (5 f.)
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-105928
• UDC: 532.135+678(045)(0.034.2PDF)
• COBISS.SI-ID: 16264731
• Publication date in RUL: 24.12.2018

Record is a part of a monograph

• Title: Polytrib 2018
• Place of publishing: [Ljubljana]
• Publisher: Slovenian Society for Tribology
• Year: 2018
• COBISS.SI-ID: 16264475

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: polimeri z visoko stopnjo polnjenja, brizganje prahov, tok taline, reološke lastnosti, porazdelitev velikosti delcev

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P2-0264
• Name: Trajnostni polimerni materiali in tehnologije