Influence of foam agent content and talc filler on the microcellular and mechanical properties of injection molded polypropylene and talc filled polypropylene composite foams

Abstract

In this study, influence of the chemical foaming agent content and talc mineral filler on the microcellular and mechanical properties of pure polypropylene and 20-wt% talc filled polypropylene composite foams was investigated. The chemical foaming agent at 1-wt% and 2-wt% ratios was added to pure polypropylene and talc filled polypropylene composites. Using an injection molding machine, foam materials were produced under a set of process parameters consisting of injection pressure, injection speed, melt temperature, and packing pressure. For each set of process parameters, the cell number, cell size, distance between cells, skin layer thickness, cell density, and the mechanical properties of foam products were recorded. The results indicate that the cell number, cell density, skin layer thickness, tensile strength, and tensile modulus values for microcellular talc filled polypropylene composite foam are higher, while the cell diameter, impact strength, and elongation at break values are lower than that of pure microcellular polypropylene foam.