Les plastiques sont typiquement des polymères de grand poids moléculaire. Ils peuvent contenir des autres substances pour améliorer leurs performances et/ou pour réduire les prix. L'industrie plastique est l'une des industries qui a la croissance la plus rapide du monde : de nombreux produits de la vie quotidienne contiennent l'utilisation du produit plastique. Il y a différents procédés pour la mise en forme des polymères (soufflage, moulage par soufflage, moulage par compression, moulage par transfert, extrusion, moulage par injection) pour lesquels les matériaux utilisés, la qualité et la forme du produit fabriqué varient. En particulier, la demande des pièces moulées par injection augmente chaque année. Cela vient du fait que le moulage par injection est identifié comme une des techniques de fabrication les plus efficaces et économiques pour produire des pièces en plastique de formes précises et complexes. Il y a trois étapes significatives dans le processus : premièrement, on remplit la cavité avec le polymère fondu à une température et à une pression d'injection élévées (étape de remplissage et bien remplissage). Deuxièmement la chaleur de la pièce en polymère est évacuée par le système de refroidissement (étape de refroidissement). Troisièmement, après que la partie solidifiée a été éjectée, le moule est fermé et le prochain cycle d'injection commence (étape d'éjection). / Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular weight, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs. Plastic industry is one of the world?s fastest growing industries; almost every product that is used in daily life involves the usage of plastic. There are different methods for polymer processing (thermoforming, blow molding, compression molding of polymers, transfer molding of polymers, extrusion of polymers, injection molding of polymers, etc.) which differ by the method of fabrications, the used materials, the quality of the product and the form of the final product. Demand for injection molded parts continues to increase every year because plastic injection molding process is well known as the most efficient manufacturing techniques for economically producing precise plastic parts and complex geometry at low cost and a large quantity. The plastic injection molding process is a cyclic process where polymer is injected into a mold cavity, and solidifies to form a plastic part. There are three significant stages in each cycle. The first stage is filling the cavity with hot polymer melt at high injection pressure and temperature (filling and post-filling stage). It is followed by cooling the injected polymer material until the material is completely solidified (cooling stage), finally the solidified part is ejected (ejection stage).

Des produits de consommation de première nécessité aux produits les plus fortuits, l'emballage, en particulier plastique, constitue aujourd'hui un élément indispensable de notre vie quotidienne. Son utilisation intensive dans le domaine agroalimentaire pour un usage unique à courte durée de vie incite aujourd'hui à s'orienter vers de nouveaux matériaux d'origine renouvelable et biodégradables, aux caractéristiques similaires que leurs homologues issus des ressources fossiles. Les mélanges à base de biopolymères et de biopolyesters peuvent être une bonne alternative. Dans ce présent travail de thèse, des mélanges de farine de blé, thermoplastifiée par du glycérol et de l'eau, et des polyesters biosourcés et biodégradables tels que le PLA et/ou le PHB ont été obtenus par extrusion bivis et moulés par injection thermoplastique. Les caractéristiques thermiques, thermomécaniques dynamiques, morphologiques, mécaniques et barrières de ces nouveaux matériaux ont été étudiés. De l'acide citrique a été utilisé comme agent de compatibilisant pour améliorer l'interface amidon/PLA. Les différentes investigations nous ont permis de mettre au point différents types de formulations aux caractéristiques mécaniques et barrières à la vapeur d'eau intéressantes pour la fabrication de corps de barquettes d'emballage alimentaire de denrées périssables comme la viande ou les fromages. L'aptitude au contact alimentaire des matériaux farine thermoplastifiée/polyester et l'impact de l'incorporation des polyesters sur la biodégradabilité de ces matériaux ont également été étudiés. / From basic and essential to unnecessary and optional consumer products, packaging, particularly plastic, is today an indispensable part of our daily life. Its extensive use in the food industry for a single use and for a short shelf-life encourages us today to move towards new renewable and biodegradable materials with similar characteristics than their counterparts from fossil resources. Biopolymers and biopolyesters blends can be a good alternative. Within the framework of this present work, wheat flour, thermoplasticised by glycerol and water, and biobased and biodegradable polyesters such as PLA and/or PHB, were blended using an industrial twin screw extruder and were injection-molded into thermoplastic materials. Thermal, dynamic thermomechanical, morphological, mechanical and barriers properties of these new materials were studied. Citric acid was used as a compatibilizer to improve the interface starch/PLA. The different investigations have allowed us to develop various types of formulations, with mechanical characteristics and barrier properties to water vapor, very attractive for manufacturing plastic food packaging which can be used for meats or cheeses. Food contact suitability and biodegradability of thermoplasticised wheat flour/polyester materials have also studied.

The aim of this thesis is to design a robotic cell for automated injection molding operation. At the beginning of this paper, the input parameters and the assignment are analyzed. This is then followed up by the layout of the workplace, design of its equipment, selection of robots and the design of their end effectors and peripherals with regard to the specified boundary conditions and operator’s safety. The output of this work is a 3D cell model and its simulation model in PLM software Siemens Process Simulate, which verifies the production cycle time.

This Diploma thesis is aimed at various ways of connecting electrical parts in car locks. This part of the thesis includes technologies of electric cables, printed circuit boards, lead frames, 3D-MID technology and technology of electroconductive plastics materials. Listed technologies are compared. The aim of the practical thesis portion is the application of electroconductive plastic materials on the given part. For this purpose necessary changes were designed in the provided small series injection mold. The thesis also includes drawing documentation of the designed construction changes in the injection mold, as well as economic appraisal of the prototype manufacturing fees.

Process-induced Long-term Deformation Behavior of Injection Molded Semicrystalline Thermoplastics Injection molding is a very complex process because the polymer experiences a complex thermorheological history during molding that influences the molecular orientation, residual stresses, frozen-in free volume and crystallinity inside the part. These generally govern the final part properties. Therefore it is highly desirable to anticipate the effect of process parameters on the resulting microstructure and mechanical properties of the finished part in the long run. In the case of a semicrystalline thermoplastic part, the problem in understanding the deformation behavior arises from its two-phase structure and a tendency exists to concentrate primarily on the effect of the crystalline phase on the deformation behavior, while the contribution of the amorphous phase is less investigated. In this work, the influence of the processing parameters on the deformation behavior of injection molded semicrystalline thermoplastic parts, viz., syndiotactic Polystyrene (sPS) and Polybutylene terepthalate (PBT), has been monitored through creep. The resulting internal structures due to processing have been determined and the deformation behavior has been analyzed. It has been observed that only the rate of cooling shows a remarkable effect on the long-term viscoelastic behavior of an injection molded semicrystalline thermoplastic part as it influences not only the crystalline, but also the free volume fraction, whereas the different states of frozen-in orientations and pressure-induced densification have only a negligible effect. Besides, physical aging also plays an important role in the deformation behavior of the injection moldings which was manifested with the decrease in the tendency to creep. Therefore, it was suggested that the cooling rate during injection molding and the aging time can significantly affect the long-term deformation behavior of the injection molded semicrystalline thermoplastics. The results also showed that when no significant effect is observed in terms of short-term mechanical properties by changing the processing conditions, but while considering the long-term behavior they show a significant effect.

L’objectif principal de la thèse est de modéliser et visualiser les phénomènes de plastification des polymères dans le procédé d’injection-moulage. Dans les procédés de transformation des polymères par un système vis-fourreau (extrusion, injection), la plastification est l’étape durant laquelle le polymère originellement à l’état solide est graduellement fondu et homogénéisé par le chauffage externe et l’action mécanique de la friction contre les parois de l’outillage et du cisaillement. Cette étape est capitale dans la maîtrise technique et économique du procédé, en termes d’homogénéité thermique, de mélange des charges et de temps de séjour du polymère. Nous envisageons de visualiser et modéliser l’ensemble du processus de plastification dans les monovis d’injection. Afin de comprendre et de mesurer cette étape, nous avons conçu, validé et réalisé un fourreau à fenêtres. Ce système se compose de trois fenêtres de visualisation, insérées dans un fourreau en acier usiné par électroérosion. Le comportement mécanique de cet assemblage a été analysé par simulation numérique, sous différentes sollicitations thermiques, pressions et contraintes. L’hétérogénéité des matériaux de structure (acier – verre) a fait apparaître des problèmes potentiels de fuites, de fragilité qui ont été pris en compte dans la conception. Ce fourreau à fenêtres nous permet de visualiser et de suivre à l'aide des caméras scientifiques, les différents états du polymère une fois introduit dans l’ensemble vis-fourreau. Les résultats confirment les hypothèses théoriques de la plastification. Certains sont mis en évidence, comme l’existence d’un lit solide adossé à l’arrière du filet de la vis, ainsi que son évolution par rapport à la vitesse de rotation de la vis, ou l’apparition des films fondus entre le filet de la vis et le lit solide, et entre la paroi du fourreau et le lit solide. Certains sont par contre à vérifier par d’autres expériences, comme par exemple : l’apparition de la rupture du lit solide quelle que soit la vitesse de rotation de la vis, la valeur de la vitesse du lit solide par rapport à la vitesse de rotation de la vis. Nous souhaitons aussi, grâce à ce système "fourreau transparent", pouvoir étudier, modéliser et visualiser les aspects de dispersion et de mélange des charges (traceurs, pigments, mélange maître) au sein de la matrice polymère à l’état solide ou fondu. / The main objective of the thesis is modelling and visualization of the phenomena of polymer plastication in the injection-moulding process. In injection moulding or in extrusion, plastication is the step during which polymer pellets are melted by the means of mechanical dissipation provided by a rotating screw and by thermal conduction coming from a heated metallic barrel. This step is crucial for melt thermal homogeneity, charge dispersion and fibre length preservation. Although there have been a large number of theoretical and experimental studies of plastication during the past decades, mostly on extrusion and mostly using the screw extraction technique, extremely few of them have dealt with trying to visualise plastication, let alone measuring the plastication profile in real-time. As a matter of fact, designing such equipment is an arduous task. We designed an industry-sized metallic barrel, featuring 3 optical glass windows; each window possessing 3 plane faces itself to allow for visualisation and record by synchronised cameras and lightening by lasers. The mechanical behaviour of this assembly was analysed by numerical simulation under different thermal stresses, pressures and constraints. The heterogeneity of structural materials (steel - glass) showed potential leakage problems, or fragility problems, that have been taken into account in the design. We named it "transparent barrel" or "barrel with glass windows". This "transparent barrel" allows us to visualize and follow through scientific cameras, the different states of the polymer when introduced into the screw-barrel. The images recorded can be further analysed by digital image processing. Preliminary results confirm the plastication theory and show a compacted solid bed and a melt pool side by side. The total plastication length is a direct function of screw rotation frequency as it is obvious from results on the melt pool width, which increases when the screw rotation frequency decreases. However, some evidence of solid bed breakage has been recorded, whereby the solid bed does not diminish continuously along the screw but is fractured in the compression zone. Some others results need to be checked with others experiments. We also wish, through this system "transparent barrel", to study, modelling and visualize the aspects of dispersion and mixing charges (tracers, pigments, master batch) in the matrix polymer.

Werkstoffe auf Basis duroplastischer Harze besitzen exzellente Gebrauchseigenschaften für viele Bereiche des industriellen Einsatzes. Vor allem durch die Spritzgießverarbeitung rieselfähiger duroplastischer Formmassen entsteht ein hohes Substitutionspotential gegenüber Bauteilen aus Metallen oder Hochleistungsthermoplasten. Jedoch führen bestehende Erkenntnisdefizite im Prozessverständnis zu Ressentiments hinsichtlich des Einsatzes duroplastischer Werkstoffe. Ziel der Untersuchungen dieser Arbeit war die Ermittlung und Analyse der prozessinduzierten Werkstoffstruktur von spritzgegossenen technischen Phenolharzformteilen. Dabei wurden zum einen das Füllen der Werkzeugkavität und die sich ausbildende Faserorientierung untersucht und zum anderen die sich während des Temperns verändernde chemische Struktur. Anhand von Platten- sowie Zugprüfkörpern wurden sowohl beim Spritzgießen als auch beim Tempern Parametervariationen durchgeführt und die jeweils resultierende Werkstoffstruktur sowie deren Einfluss auf die Formteileigenschaften analysiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Strömungsverhältnisse während der Werkzeugfüllung stark von den Prozessparametern und der Werkstoffzusammensetzung abhängig sind. Dadurch wird auch die Faserorientierung beeinflusst, sodass im Formteil lokal und richtungsabhängig stark unterschiedliche Eigenschaften entstehen können. Darüber hinaus konnte anhand einer alternativen Tempermethode geklärt werden, warum es beim Tempern zu einem Abfall der mechanischen Eigenschaften kommt und eine Möglichkeit zur Vermeidung gegeben werden. / Because of their excellent properties, thermosets can be applied in a bright range of industrial applications. Especially thermoset molding compounds can be processed highly effective by injection molding, which enables them to substitute metals or high performance thermoplastics. But there is a deficit in process understanding, which limits the industrial application. The objective of this work is the investigation and analysis of the process induced material structure of injection molded technical phenolic components. Therefor the filling of the cavity with the resulting fiber orientation and the chemical processes during post-curing were examined. A parameter variation with injection molded plate and tensile specimens were done and the resulting material structure and the effect on the component properties were analyzed. The results show a big influence of the process parameter and the material on the flow condition during the filling of the cavity. Thereby also the fiber orientation is affected. This leads to process-depending local and direction-depending properties. In addition, this work shows an alternative method for post-curing to avoid the decrease of mechanical properties.

In diesem Beitrag wird die Wirksamkeit statischer Mischer in verschiedenen Anordnungen und Strömungskonfigurationen untersucht. Auf Grundlage umfangreicher numerischer Untersuchungen werden die Anwendungsgrenzen von spiralförmigen statischen Mischern zur Verbesserung des Wärmeübergangs in Kühlkanälen von Werkzeugmaschinen aufgezeigt. Die numerischen Simulationen wurden mit der kommerziellen Computational-Fluid-Dynamics (CFD)-Software, ANSYS Fluent 2020 R2, durchgeführt. Diese Studie zeigt, dass es einen optimalen Anwendungsbereich für statische Mischer als Wärmeaustauschverstärker in Abhängigkeit von der Strömungsgeschwindigkeit, dem übertragenen Wärmestrom und der Wärmeleitfähigkeit des Werkzeugs gibt. Die Untersuchungen in diesem Beitrag beschränken sich auf einphasige Strömungen in kreisförmigen Querschnitten und geraden Kanalgeometrien. Als repräsentatives Anwendungsbeispiel für eine Werkzeugmaschine wird die Kühlung eines einfachen Spritzgießwerkzeugs untersucht. Die durchgeführten Analysen zeigen, dass der Einsatz von statischer Mischelemente zur Verbesserung der Wärmeübertragung sehr effektiv ist, insbesondere bei Strömungen mit niedrigen bis mittleren Reynoldszahlen, konturnaher Kühlung, hohen Wärmestromwerten sowie hoher Wärmeleitfähigkeit des Werkzeugmaterials. / In this contribution, the effectiveness of helical static mixers in different arrangements and flow configurations/regimes is explored. By means of a thorough numerical analysis the application limits of helical static mixers for the heat transfer enhancement inside cooling channels of machine tools is provided. The numerical simulations were processed with the commercial finite volume Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, ANSYS Fluent 2020 R2. This study shows that there exists an optimal range of application for static mixers as heat exchange intensifier depending on the flow speed, the transmitted heat flow and the thermal conductivity of the tool. The investigations of this contribution are restricted to single-phase flow in circular cross-sections and straight channel geometries. As a representative application example for a machine tooling, the cooling of a simple injection mould is investigated. The research carried out reveals that the application of static mixing elements for enhancement of heat transfer is very effective, particularly for fluid flow with low to medium Reynolds numbers, close-contour cooling, high values of heat fluxes as well as high thermal conductivity of the tooling material.

The AK4 rifle serves as the primary weapon for the Home Guard, an integral part of the Swedish Armed Forces. Introduced in 1964, the AK4 is the Swedish version of the Heckler & Koch G3 and functions as a fully automatic assault rifle. Among its components, the handguard holds significant importance, providing stability, improving accuracy and control, and protecting the user from heat generated by the barrel. Recognizing the need for optimization, an employee from the ALTEN Group, possessing military experience and expertise in the AK4, launched a project to enhance the ergonomics and versatility of the handguard in a cost-effective manner. This initiative stems from the excessively high cost of commercially available handguards, making them financially unviable for replacing the original handguard of every AK4 used by the Home Guard personnel. This project aims to design and develop a next-generation handguard for the AK4 rifle that addresses the current limitations of the existing handguard. The primary focus is improving the shooter’s performance by establishing a comfortable shape of the handguard, reducing the weight, and enhancing its compatibility with accessories. Additionally, the aim is to ensure the handguard is cost-effective for mass production and meets the requirements set by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration. To achieve the aims, interviews and a comprehensive user testing study was conducted, collecting quantitative data in the form of participant ratings and rankings for different design concept while also gathering qualitative data through participant feedback that highlighted specific design features contributing to comfort. Additionally, a systematic material selection process was performed, involving the analysis and ranking of various materials based on properties such as weight, price, and specific mechanical properties. Furthermore, the manufacturing analysis relied mainly on conversations with industry experts possessing expertise in the field of plastic manufacturing. Upon conducting a detailed analysis, it has been determined that the ideal configuration for the final product is an octagonal shape. After careful evaluation, Polyamide 6 reinforced with 30% glass fibers has emerged as the most suitable material choice for the handguard. This material had the optimal balance between mechanical properties, thermal performance, durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact. To produce 50,000 handguard units, the recommended manufacturing method was injection molding due to its compatibility with mass production and the advice received from industry experts. Considering the design and selected material, a substantial number of the requirements outlined by FMV could be fulfilled by conducting both theoretical analyses and practical experiments.

多様化する樹脂材料の射出成形において，目的に応じた溶融状態を得るための高度な可塑化技術が求められている．本研究では，流動シミュレーションを用いて可塑化現象を定量化し，所望の溶融状態に対する影響因子を明らかにすることでスクリュ形状を最適化し，実験検証により検討の妥当性を確認した．また，スクリュ形状を3Dプリンタによりプロトタイピングし，疑似流体を用いた可視化モデル実験を提案し，新規スクリュの開発手法としての有効性を示した． / In injection molding of diversified resins, it has been required advancement of plasticizing technology in order to realize a melting condition according to purpose. This study investigated quantifying phenomena by flow simulation, and optimizing the screw design by clarifying the influence factors for the desired melting condition. The effects of optimized screw were confirmed the validity of results by experimental validations. Also, models experiments of visualizing test that utilized simulated fluid and prototyped screw by 3D printer were proposed, there were indicated efficacy for the development approach of new screw design. / 博士(工学) / Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University