The Occurrence of Flow Marks during Injection Molding of Linear Polyethylene

Abstract

Abstract Injection molded parts often show several types of surface defect. It has been hypothesized that wall slip is associated with some of these defects. Wall slip of molten plastics has been observed above a certain critical shear stress in rheological measurements. The objectives of the proposed research were to analyze the occurrence of flow marks during the injection molding of linear polyethylene and evaluate its possible relation to wall slip. Various variables were studied in terms of their influence on flow mark formation: mold thickness, mold temperature, melt temperature, gate, injection speed and TeflonTM and silicone oil coatings. It was found that injection speed is the controlling factor for the generation of flow marks during injection molding of the linear polyethylenes studied. Since one of the resin studied had shown no tendency to slip in capillary flow experiments, and since a Teflon TM coating on the mold walls did not affect the occurrence of flow marks, we conclude that there is no relationship between wall slip and the generation of flow marks. Microscopic observation of molded surfaces suggests instead that flow marks result from the filamentaton and stretching of semi-solidified material in the neighborhood of the three-phase contact line.