Advances in Polymer Technology, Vol.16, No.2, 117-128, 1997
Evaluation of the effect of processing parameters on the properties of advanced styrenic resins: A design of experiments approach
The effect of processing conditions on the performance of advanced styrenic resins (ASR) is examined. ASR systems offer a combination of high gloss and high impact, which allows them to be considered as alternatives in applications previously dominated by acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene copolymers (ABS). Injection molding conditions were set according to the principles of statistical design of experiments. The information provided by this statistical design of experiments (DOE) method is extensive and highly organized. For the current study, a 25 full factorial model was based on five parameters at two levels of variation. With this model, the effects of injection speed, melt temperature, mold temperature, hold pressure, and cooling time on part properties were investigated. The properties measured were tensile modulus, tensile yield strength, tensile ultimate strength, and Gardner and Izod impact strengths. This study represents an initial variable screening for the establishment of a process window for this particular material. At the same time, significant process knowledge, valuable for further future optimization, was gained and structure-morphology relationships were investigated.