Molecular Orientation in Injection-Molded Polypropylene Copolymers with Ethylene

Abstract

Abstract The molecular orientation process in injection molding of polypropylene copolymers with ethylene was theoretically analyzed from a view point of growth of melt orientation (recoverable shear strain) at the gate and its relaxation in the mold cavity. Regardless of the characteristics of raw resin (copolymerization type and ethylene content) and molding conditions (cylinder temperature), there exist unitary correlations between calculated degree of molecular orientation and experimentally measured degrees of molecular orientation such as the thickness of skin layer and crystalline c-axis orientation function. According to this analysis, the fact that molecular orientation is decreased by copolymerization with ethylene is due to decrease in melt orientation (recoverable shear strain), decrease in the relaxation time and reduction of crystallization temperature.