INJECTION MOLDING PROCESS PARAMETERS

The typical injection-molding machine is designed for the fabrication of thermo­plastics and the same is used for fabrication of NFCs without any major change in the machine tool. As the properties of the natural fibers used as reinforcement are different from that of synthetic fibers used in traditional PMCs, an understanding of the various process parameters of injection molding machine and their effects is necessary to achieve the desired flawless composites. In case of natural fiber reinforced composites the polymer pellets and the fibers are first dried in the hot air circulation dryer, hopper dryer, or dehumidification dryer depending upon the material predrying recommendations to remove excessive moisture. The fibers in the chopped form and matrix in pellet form are either precompounded or directly fed into the injection-molding hopper. The common precompounding device used prior to injection molding is twin-screw extruder or a melt mixer, which uniformly blends the matrix and fibers prior to injection molding resulting in uniform distribution of natural fibers in the composite. There are various process parameters to be taken care of while injection molding of NFCs. Optimization of these process parameters leads to reduction in the cycle time and as a result a reduction in the operating cost and increased productivity. The important process parameters are identified as screw barrel temperature, screw speed, injection speed, injection time, injection pressure, mold temperature and back pressure.