CYCLE TIME REDUCTION IN ROTATIONAL MOULDING OF LLDPE - FS NANOCOMPOSITES

Abstract

Rotational moulding (RM) is a low shear polymer processing method that uses centrifugal force in a heated chamber to produce hollow seamless products. The availability of materials, large cycle time and process monitoring are few of the challenges faced by both industrialists and researchers in RM. The overall cycle time of a rotational moulding process involves times required for heating as well as cooling of the part. In case of LLDPE the moulders use a typical demoulding temperature of 50°C to demould the part. At this temperature LLDPE shrinks and detaches itself from the mould inner wall. Any attempt to demould the part above this temperature results in damaging the part due to the strong adhesion of the part with the mould. This in turn increases the cooling cycle times. To address this issue, an attempt has been made to demould the part made of LLDPE - FS nanocomposites at temperatures higher than common demoulding temperature. As there is no quantitative method to measure the adhesive force between the mould and LLDPE - FS nanocomposites an innovative method was designed to measure the same.