Warpage Optimisation Using Recycled Polycar-bonates (PC) on Front Panel Housing

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Polymer Recycling

Background:

• Growing environmental concerns necessitate waste material utilization.
• Mechanical recycling of Polycarbonate (PC) offers a sustainable approach for new product development.
• Blending recycled and virgin PC can minimize defects in manufactured parts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of recycled Polycarbonate (PC) content on the warpage of molded front panel housing parts.
• To determine optimal processing parameters for minimizing warpage using simulation and optimization techniques.
• To compare the performance of different recycled PC ratios (R0%, R30%, R40%, R50%) against virgin PC.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Autodesk Moldflow Insight 2012 for simulation analysis of Polycarbonate (PC) blends.
• Employed Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) for optimizing processing parameters.
• Focused on reducing warpage in the y-direction for molded front panel housing parts.

Main Results:

• The optimal ratio for recycled PC material was identified as R30%, followed by R40% and R50%, showing reduced warpage compared to R0% (virgin PC).
• Packing pressure was identified as the most significant processing parameter influencing warpage across all tested Polycarbonate (PC) material ratios.
• Simulation analysis successfully predicted manufacturing quality and warpage in the y-direction.

Conclusions:

• Recycled Polycarbonate (PC) blends, particularly R30%, can be effectively used to produce high-quality molded parts with minimized warpage.
• Optimization techniques like RSM and GA are valuable tools for determining ideal processing conditions for recycled materials.
• Controlling packing pressure is crucial for mitigating warpage defects in Polycarbonate (PC) injection molding.