Rheology characterisation for injection moulding compound consisting of recycled carbon fibre
Rheology characterisation for injection moulding compound consisting of recycled carbon fibre
Research Group Activity
| The student will be based at the National Polymer Processing Centre (NPPC) at WMG. The NPPC specialises in thermoplastic composites, polymer and composites processing, sustainable plastic materials, manufacturing process simulation |
Project Description
| Thermoplastic composites offer great opportunities for sustainable composites manufacturing. Unlikely thermoset materials, thermoplastics can be heated and reshaped , which significantly increases the recyclability of the material. One of the most recognised recycling and reuse routes for thermoplastic composites is to re-process the material into short fibre pallets and moulded into components using conventional injection moulding process. Such material and process offer great design flexibility, as complicated geometry can be manufacturing at very high volume. Designing with injection moulding process requires careful consideration and optimisation to minimise critical defects such as weldline and air entrapment. Flow induced fibre orientation is also an important factor to consider because it can strongly affect the mechanical properties of the final components. Several flow simulation software exist for predicting the in-cavity flow during the manufacturing process, and subsequently the formation of defects and the fibre orientation distributions. The key material model used in such software is the Cross model, which defines the shear viscosity of the melt material as a function of temperature and shear rate. However, the Cross model was originally developed for unreinforced polymers, and there has been evidence in the literature suggesting that the Cross model might no longer be valid for fibre reinforced polymers, especially those with higher fibre content. This project aims to conduct a parametric study for the rheological properties of injection moulding compound consisting of recycled carbon fibre. It’s based on the hypothesis that the shear viscosity of the material will no longer follow a typical Cross model with high levels of fibre-fibre interaction, where the level of fibre-fibre interaction is dictated by the fibre content as well as the fibre length. The student is expected to perform experimental material characterisation using a rotational rheometer for a range of samples consisting of different fibre contents and fibre lengths. The experimental data will be used to determine the criterion when the Cross model becomes invalid for the type of material used in this project, and potentially propose new constitute models for flow simulation. |
Student Level
Open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students
Location
This project requires attendance at a lab or office on campus.
Skills you can learn from this project
| Injection moulding, process simulation, rheology characterisation for unreinforced/reinforced polymers |
Required Skills
Good lab skills.
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