Material and Equipments

Material : High Density Polypropylene (HDPP)

Manufacturer: Titon (Pasir Gudang) /

Petronas (Kratan, kawasan perindustrian
Gebong)
Molecular Structure:

Chemical Resistance
Acids-concentrated Good-Fair
Acids-dilute Good-Fair
Alcohols Good
Alkalis Good
Aromatic hydrocarbons Fair
Greases and Oils Good-Fair
Halogenated Hydrocarbons Fair-Poor
Halogens Poor
Ketones Good

Electrical Properties
Dielectric constant @ 1MHZ 2.2-2.6
Dielectric strength (kV mm-1) 30-40
Dissipation factor @ 1 MHz 3-5 x10-4
Surface resistivity (Ohm/sq) 1013
Volume resistivity (Ohmcm) 1016-1018

Mechanical Properties
Coefficient of friction 0.1-0.3
Elongation at break (%) 150-300
Hardness- Rockwell R80-100
Izod Impact strength (Jm-1) 20-100
Abrasive resistance-ASTM D1044 13-16mg/1000cycles
Tensile modulus (GPa) 0.9-1.5, for biax film 2.2-4.2
Tensile strength (MPa) 25-40, for biax film 130-300
Physical properties
Density (g cm-3) 0.90
Flammability HB
Limiting oxygen index (%) 18
Radiation resistance Fair
Resistance to Ultra-violet Poor
Water absorption – equilibrium(%) 0.03

Thermal properties
Coefficient of thermal expansion (x10-1K-1) 100 – 180
Heat-deflection temperature – 0.45 MPa (°C) 100-105
Heat-deflection temperature – 1.8 MPa (°C) 60-65
Specific heat (JK-1kg-1) 1700-1900
Thermal conductivity @ 23 °C (Wm-1K-1) 0.10-0.22
Upper working temperature (°C) 90-120
Lower working temperature(°C) -10 to -60

Equipment :
1. Plastic Injection Machine
System Control Hopper Temperature Controller

Mold design Mold

Lubricator

2. Universal tensile tester – INSTRON 3. Micro Hardness tester

3. Desktop type Scanning Electron Microscopic

4. Mini Saw

4. Minitab 15 Software

Procedure:
(A) Injection Moulding Process
Machine Specification:
Model: 820 D 850-210 Operating Voltage: 380V 50 Hz
Serial No: 148404 Heating: 5.56 kW
Manufacture: 1996 Pump motor: 16.5 kW
Weight: 2400 kg Total Load: 24.1 kW
Clamp force: 850 kN tons

Procedure:
1. The mould is clamped to ensure the mould is held properly.
2. The safety guard is closed.
3. The polyproplyene pellets are poured into the feeding hooper.
4. The injection speed is input in V1 and pressure is input in P on the system control while
temperature for the injection is input using the temperature controller according to the
parameters level for experiment 1 as shown in the table 1.

Parameters A B C
Temperature(oC 210 230 250
)
Pressure(bar) 100 125 150
Speed(rpm) 200 300 400
o
Exp Temperature( C Pressure(bar) Speed(rpm)
)
1 210 100 200
2 210 125 300
3 210 150 400
4 230 100 300
5 230 125 400
6 230 150 200
7 250 100 400
8 250 125 200
9 250 150 300
 Table 1 Parameters of injection moulding

5. The start button is switched on.

6. The cooled product is then ejected from the mould and the safety guard is open to remove
the product.
7. This process is repeated until 3 pairs of samples are produced for each experiment.

(B) Universal Tensile Tester

(C) Hardness Test
Purpose:
To perform hardness test on injection moulded products.
Theory :
The Rockwell hardness test defines hardness as “a value calculated by substracting an
indentation depth from a constant value”. The unit of Rockwell hardness “1” corresponds to
2µm. The Rockwell hardness test calculates the hardness of a specimen based on the
indentation depth. With this method, loading operation is performed in two steps; the
preliminary test force of 98N is applied first, and then the total force depending on the
Rockwell scale is applied. With a soft specimen, the indentation is deep. Since the Rockwell
hardness test is based on the indentation depth under a preliminary test force, the
measurement result is hardly affected by the finished surface condition of the specimen, and
the indentation depth can be directly converted into a hardness value. Therefore, this method
can reduce the measurement time. For this experiment the scale that we have choose is P,
Preliminary force : 98.07N
Total test force : 1471N
Indenter : Steel ball or hard metal ball with diameter 12.7mm
Applicable materials: Plastic, light alloy and lead.

Procedure:
1. The specimen surface is inspected to ensure it is smooth and flat, free from a foreign
substance and also oil.
2. The specimen is placed on an anvil that has a screw threaded base.
3. The anvil is turned and raised by the screw threads until the TEST light is activated.
4. The start lever is activated and the load is slowly applied to the indenter.
5. The load is released and after a beep sound, the result is recorded.
6. The procedure above is repeated for all specimens.
(D) Scannning Electron Microscope
Purpose:
To conduct morphology analysis on to the specimens.
Theory:
The surface of the specimen to be examined is scanned with an electron beams and the
reflected beam of electron is collected and then display at the same scanning rate on a
cathode ray tube. The image on the screen which may be photographed represents the surface
features of the specimens. Magnification ranging from 10 to 50000 times is possible and
permits qualitative and semi-qualitative analysis of the surface area.
Procedure:
1. The Main Switch on the Control Unit is turned on.
2. The Exhange Switch on the Main Unit is pressed and the evacuation will start when
Exchange Switch is lit in green.
3. The specimen from experiment 1 is cut into a small piece using a mini saw.
4. A conductive double-sided tape is sticked on a specimen stub and the specimen is taped on
to the tape.
5. The specimen stub is attached to the height adjustment screw and the holder height is
adjusted so that the clearance between the topmost point of the specimen and the lowest face
of the gauge becomes about 1mm.
6. Exhange Switch is pressed to break the vacuum and the specimen stage is drawn out
slowly to place the specimen holder into the holder base of the stage.
7. The stage is set to be centre by adjusting the X and Y knobs.
8. Holding the specimen stage, Exchange Switch is pressed to start the evacuation. “READY”
light will be lighted up.
9. “Start” button on the operation window is clicked and “Auto Start Mode” will be activated
to turn on the electron beam. An image is displayed and adjusments are done to get the
required images.
10. Image is captured and saved, the “Stop” button is clicked to stop the electron beam.
11. Exchange Switch is pressed to break the vacuum of the specimen chamber and “AIR”
will be lit in red.
12. The specimen stage is withdrawn and the specimen holder is pulled out from the base of
the stage.
13. Specimen is removed. This steps are repeated for the next 2 specimens.
14. The images are then analyse on their morphology.