Packing and solidification in ceramic injection moulding
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J.H.H. ter Maat BASF Aktiengesellschaft, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany (Received 28 August 2000; accepted 2 April 2001)
The occupation of volume in large ceramic injection mouldings solidified under different pressures using two moulding techniques is considered. Large (60 × 45 × 25 mm) alumina injection mouldings were prepared in cavities fitted with conventional (metallic) and insulated [poly(ether ether ketone)] sprues. These provide quite distinct solidification histories which, in turn, influence the physical properties of the moulding and the extent and type of defects it contains. In the former case, the gate solidified after 26 s whereas, in the latter, the hold pressure could be applied for over 240 s. In insulated sprue moulding, the advance of the solid liquid boundary during packing and solidification was traced by fractography. Pressure was varied from 5 to 120 MPa. The interdependencies of moulding mass, apparent density, local density, polymer crystallinity, and microstructure were accounted for as a function of pressure and pressure transmission method. Changes in polymer crystallinity due to different cooling rates at different positions in the mouldings were insufficient to account for observed density differences. Systematic changes in the mass as a function of hold pressure were related to macroporosity in conventional mouldings and to microporosity in insulated sprue mouldings.
I. INTRODUCTION
Ceramic injection moulding is a widely used production technique for complex-shaped ceramic components1,2 but tends to be limited to thin-section components (
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