The Effects of Mold Design on the Pore Morphology of Polymers Produced with MuCell ^®Technology

Abstract

In this study two molds were designed and used in MuCell Õ technology to generate implants with a porous structure. To arrive the desired pore structure many process parameters were investigated for indicating the effects of process parameters on the pore morphology. This process parameter investigation was performed on each mold respectively, so that the influences of the mold design on the pore morphology have been researched by the same process parameter setting. It was found that the mold design also had effects on the pore structure in MuCell Õ technology. A proper mold design could improve the generated pore structure, such as porosity, pore diameter, and interconnectivity.

Influence of relative low gas counter pressure on melt foaming behavior and surface quality of molded parts in microcellular injection molding process

“…Due to the above advantages, microcellular injection molding process has been widely concerned by the researchers in the field of injection molding. Many researches have been done in different aspects, such as injection molding equipments, 2,7 types of foaming agents, [8][9][10] material modification, [11][12][13] mould structure, 14 process parameters optimization, 15,16 numerical simulation, 17,18 and so on. Up till now, the microcellular injection molding process has found certain application in the areas of automotive interior parts, electronic products, and the products with high-dimension accuracy.…”

A Review on Microcellular Injection Moulding

“…Other gases such as argon and helium were also investigated, but they are more expensive and flammable and induce machine degradation [ 16 ]. Cell nucleation starts when the mixture of SCF and the melt is injected into the mould cavity, and this process is caused by a rapid pressure drop [ 20 , 21 , 23 , 31 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Cells keep growing and enlarging, while the mixture continues being injected into the mould cavity and the gas–polymer melt remains at an elevated temperature.…”

Characterization of microcellular plastics for weight reduction in automotive interior parts

“…The thermal conductivity diminishes with low cell size, while the expansion coefficient and the specific heat do not change as compared to the solid counterpart [53]. [118]. Over the last years, some authors have worked on in situ visual observations of bubble nucleation and growth dynamics in microcellular injection molding, so as to get a better understanding of foaming phenomenon [119,120].…”