An extrusion system for the processing of microcellular polymer sheets:​ shaping and cell growth control

Baldwin, Daniel F.; Park, Chul B.; Suh, Nam P.

Affiliations

¹The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332

²Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada MS5 1A4

³Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Abstract

A new processing system for the extrusion of microcellular polymer sheets is presented. Specifically, the detailed design of a shaping and cell growth control system is discussed in the context of an overall extrusion system design with particular emphasis on the system level functional requirements of cell nucleation, cell growth, and shaping. The principle of the basic extrusion system design is to shape a nucleated polymer/gas solution flow under pressure and accurate temperature control. In this way, the initial cell growth is controlled so as to prevent degradation of the nucleated cell density during shaping. Two foaming die designs for satisfying the initial shaping and cell growth requirements are presented. Critical experiments are then presented which verified the concept of shaping a nucleated polymer/gas solution. Moreover, these experiments demonstrated the feasibility of the overall microcellular polymer sheet extrusion system design.

Links

DOI: 10.1002/pen.10537

WoS: A1996UN91000013

History

Received: 1995-03-20

Revised: 1995-04

Cited By (20)

Year	Entry
1998	Behravesh AH. Extrusion Processing of Low-Density Microcellular Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 1998.
1998	Rizvi GM. Extrusion Foaming of Plastic/wood-Fiber Composites Using a Chemical Blowing Agent [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 1998.
1998	Yeung AK-F. Development of Microcellular Foam Sheet Extrusion Systems [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 1998.
2000	Zhang H. Extrusion of Fine-Celled Plastic/wood-Fiber Composite Foams Using CO₂ as a Blowing Agent [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2000.
2001	Guo G. Manufacture of Fine-Celled Plastic/wood-Fiber Composite Foams Using CO₂ as a Blowing Agent [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2001.
2001	Lee PC. Manufacture of Microcellular Open-Celled Polyolefin Foams [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2001.
2001	Naguib HE. Extrusion Processing for Manufacture of Low-Density, Fine-Celled Polypropylene Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2001.
2002	Xu X. Design of an Injection-Molding System for Manufacture of Microcellular Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2002.
2003	Rizvi GM. Development of Extrusion Processing Technology for Manufacture of Fine-Celled Plastic/wood-Fiber Composite Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2003.
2005	Xu D. The Role of Die Shape for Promoting Large Volume Expansion Ratios of the Extruded Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2005.
2006	Lee C-DP. Extrusion Processing of Low-Bulk Density, Microcellular, Open-Cell Thermoplastic Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2006.
2007	Wong H-FS. Mechanical Characterization of Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) Foams [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2007.
2007	Zhu Z. Modeling of Expansion and Collapse of Extruded Filamentary Foam Through Cell-to-Cell Diffusion [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2007.
2008	Ahmed MYSE-S. Design and Manufacturing of Novel Microcellular Acoustical Foams [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2008.
2009	Lee JWS. Investigation of Foaming Behaviors in Injection Molding Using Mold Pressure Profile [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; 2009.
2010	Lin K. Development of High Strength Microcellular Foams Using Polyether Block Amide [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2010.
2010	Zhang H. Scale-Up of Extrusion Foaming Process for Manufacture of Polystyrene Foams Using Carbon Dioxide [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2010.
2012	Majithiya KM. The Effect of Molecular Weight on Polypropylene Foaming [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2012.
2012	Naeini AT. Visualization of the Crystallization in Foam Extrusion Process [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2012.
2023	Lee JH. Development of High-Temperature Thermoplastic Foams: Investigation on Foaming Behaviors of Sulfone Polymers [PhD thesis]. University of Toronto; June 2023.