Development of High Strength Microcellular
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DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH STRENGTH MICROCELLULAR FOAMS USING POLYETHER BLOCK AMIDE ………………….. KUN LIN ………………….. M.Eng. PROJECT REPORT DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 2010 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH STRENGTH MICROCELLULAR FOAMS USING POLYETHER BLOCK AMIDE by KUN LIN A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Masters of Engineering Graduate Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Toronto © Copyright by Kun Lin (2010) Development of High Strength Microcellular Foams Using Polyether Block Amide M.Eng. 2010-09-15 Kun Lin Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering University of Toronto Abstract This report presents a successful development of batch foaming techniques of the engineering elastomer. The polyether block amide (PEBAX) was investigated as an engineering elastomer by using batch foaming techniques. The Pebax provide a unique combination of mechanical and chemical properties. Understanding the effect of the different parameter in batch foaming process allows obtaining the high quality foamed product of the engineering elastomer. Temperature has been considered as an important parameter in the batch foaming process. It was shown that the density of foamed product was decreasing by the temperature increasing under its melting temperature. Both temperature and pressure have to reach the minimum requirement to obtain the fine foamed product. As an experiment result, it indicates that there is an optimal portfolio of foaming parameter for the different Pebax resin. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Chul B. Park, who provided me this opportunity and resources to complete this research project. I would like to thank my co- supervisor Nan Chen for his guidance, supports and encouragements during my research. I would also like to thank my colleagues, Anson Wang, Hasan, Hongtao Zhang, Jing Wang, Raymond Chu, Wentao Zhai, in the Microcellular Plastic Manufacturing Laboratory and Reza Rizvi in the SAPL Laboratory. Moreover, my thanks also to Donna Liu for her assistance with departmental regulations and report format. Finally, I would also like to thank my family for giving me their love, patience, support and encouragement throughout the project. It would not have been possible to finish my study. To all people mentioned above and those I have not acknowledged, thank you. Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose of Project ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Technology of Foaming ........................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Microcellular Foaming .......................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Batch Foaming Process ......................................................................................................... 3 2. Literature review .......................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Blowing Agents ..................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Cell Nucleation ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Cell growth and stabilization ................................................................................................. 9 2.4 Density and Cell Density ....................................................................................................... 9 2.5 Engineering Thermoplastic Elastomers ............................................................................... 10 2.5.1 The Pebax Polymer (ether-block-amide) ...................................................................... 10 2.5.2 The Mechanical Properties of Pebax ............................................................................ 11 2.5.3 Elastic Properties .......................................................................................................... 13 2.5.4 Fatigue Resistance ........................................................................................................ 14 2.5.5 Resistance of the Chemicals ......................................................................................... 14 2.6 The Application of Pebax .................................................................................................... 14 3. Experimental Equipment ........................................................................................... 15 3.1 DSM Compounder .............................................................................................................. 15 3.2 Carver Bench Press Model 2697 ......................................................................................... 16 3.3 Drying Oven ........................................................................................................................ 16 3.4 Coating Equipment .............................................................................................................. 17 3.5 Rheometric Scientific Rheometer ........................................................................................ 17 3.6 Softness Tester .................................................................................................................... 17 3.7 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) ................................................................................ 17 4 Experiments and Results ............................................................................................. 19 4.1 Materials .............................................................................................................................. 19 4.2 Experimental Process .......................................................................................................... 19 4.3 Experimental Results and Discussion ................................................................................. 20 5. Summary and Conclusion .......................................................................................... 51 6. Recommendations for Future Work: ........................................................................ 53 List of Tables Table 4.10: The basic information of raw Pebax materials .............................................. 19 Table 4.30: Softness of the foamed Pebax at its best foaming temperature ..................... 22 Table 5.10 Foaming behaviour of experiment materials at given temperature ................ 51 List of Figures Figure 3.10: DSM Compounder ....................................................................................... 15 Figure 3.20: Carver Bench Press Model 2697 .................................................................. 16 Figure 3.80: Schematic of batch foaming simulation system ........................................... 18 Figure 4.30: the Density of Pebax 3533, 4033 and 7233 .................................................. 23 Figure 4.31: The Expansion Ratio of Pebax 3533, 4033 and 7233 .................................. 24 Figure 4.32: Pebax 3533 Cell Density .............................................................................. 25 Figure 4.33: Pebax 4033 Cell Density .............................................................................. 25 Figure 4.34: Pebax 7233 Cell Density .............................................................................. 26 Figure 4.35: the Density of 30%, 50%, 70%Pebax 7233 .................................................. 27 Figure 4.36: the Expansion Ratio of 30%, 50%, 70%Pebax 7233 ................................... 28 Figure 4.37: the Cell Density of 30%, 50%, 70% Pebax 7233 ......................................... 28 Figure 4.38: Pebax 3533 Viscosity Feature ...................................................................... 29 Figure 4.39: Pebax 4033 Viscosity Feature ...................................................................... 29 Figure 4.40: Pebax 7233 Viscosity Feature ...................................................................... 30 Figure 4.41: Pebax 3533 Extensional Viscosity at 130 oC ................................................ 31 Figure 4.42: Pebax 4033 Extensional Viscosity at 160 °C ................................................ 31 Figure 4.43: Pebax 7233 Extensional Viscosity at 160 °C ................................................ 32 Figure 4.44: 30% Pebax 7233, 70% Pebax 3533 Extensional Viscosity at 130 °C .......... 32 Figure 4.45: 50% Pebax 7233, 50%Pebax 3533 Extensional Viscosity at 130 °C ........... 33 Figure 4.46: 70% Pebax 7233, 30% Pebax 3533 Extensional Viscosity at 130 °C .......... 33 Figure 4.47: SEM (Pebax 3533 at 80 °C, 2500PSI, 2hours) ............................................. 34 Figure 4.48: SEM (Pebax 3533 at 100 °C, 2500PSI, 2hours) ........................................... 34 Figure 4.49: SEM (Pebax 3533 at 120 °C, 2500PSI, 2hours) ........................................... 35 Figure 4.50: SEM (Pebax 3533 at 140 °C, 2500PSI, 2hours) ........................................... 35 Figure 4.51: SEM (30%,70% Pebax 7233,3533 at 60 °C, 2500PSI, 2hours) .................... 36 Figure 4.52: SEM (50%,50% Pebax 7233,3533 at 60 °C, 2500PSI, 2hours) .................... 36 Figure 4.53: SEM (70%,