Residual stresses determination in injection molded virgin and recycled HDPE blends: mechanical properties and morphology

Abstract

An experimental study of residual thermal stresses has been carried out in injection molded virgin and recycled high density polyethylene ( HDPE) blends. Effects of blend concentrations on residual stresses were investigated under different injection conditions such as melt temperature, mold temperature and cooling time. Layer removal technique was used for measuring residual stresses. In order to determine the relation between the residual stresses and material characteristic of HDPE blends, mechanical and morphological properties of the blends were also investigated. Elastic modulus and impact strength were important key factors for determining the blend characteristics. As a result, it was found that HDPE blends gave higher residual stresses but lower impact strength with higher elastic modulus when recycled concentration was increased. Furthermore, it was seen that shape and size of the crystallites were also effective on residual stresses. Small and spherulitic crystallite structured blends such as 30 % recycled HDPE induced reduction in residual stresses due to easier relaxation with lower elastic modulus and higher impact strength while lamellar crystallite structured blends such as 50 % recycled HDPE gave higher elastic modulus but lower impact strength with higher residual stresses.