A Criterion for the Formation of Fibrillar Layers in Injection Molded Parts

It is quite well known that the morphology of an injection molded part made by a semicrystalline polymer presents several layers. In particular spherulitic structures are found in the core region, a layer characterized by highly oriented fibrillar morphology (the shear layer) usually follows and a skin layer is often observed at the sample surface. The thickness of the fibrillar layer deeply influences the mechanical properties of the part. In this work, a criterion to predict the thickness of the fibrillar layer is proposed and verified. The criterion is essentially based on the amount of viscous work done when the molecular stretch is higher than a critical value: the molecular stretch should be above a critical value while a critical amount of viscous work is accunudated. In order to tune the parameters, and to validate the criterion, a well characterized polypropylene was chosen as test material, and four different injection molding conditions were analyzed. The criterion is verified by comparing some experimental results with the prediction of the UNISA code (an injection molding software developed at the University of Salerno), good comparison between software predictions and experimental data confirms the suitability of the criterion.