Research Initiation: Net - Shape Manufacture of PolyethyleneTeraphthalate Foam Parts

微孔泡沫塑料是指塑料与闭孔上 直径大约为10微米。 一种非凡的新泡沫 最近已经通过使用二氧化碳来生产材料， 泡沫塑料称为PET。 所得泡沫具有高的 强度，刚度和韧性，并可能打开使用的方式 微孔泡沫在承重应用中的应用。 这项研究的目的是合成一种新的 生产微孔PET部件的制造工艺， 限定了聚合物必须在其下聚合的条件， 已处理。 在发泡循环中的变形将被整合 使得可以生产三维部件， 保持脆弱的微结构。 其基本思想是寻求 一种处理策略， 泡孔成核和聚合物结晶过程。 二氧化碳在诱导 研究了PET在发泡过程中的结晶行为 使用电子显微镜技术。 差热 分析将用于确定结晶程度 作为气体浓度的函数。 耦合程度 之间的过程功能需求将进行研究 实验性的 最后，一个解耦的过程，将允许 微结构独立控制（平均泡孔尺寸和 密度）、泡沫中的结晶度，以及部件 几何体，将被合成。

Microcellular foam refers to plastics with closed cells on the order of 10 micrometer in diameter. A remarkable new foam material has recently been produced by using carbon dioxide to foam a physic known as PET. The resulting foam possesses high strength, stiffness, and toughness, and may open the way for use of microcellular foams in load-bearing applications. The goal of this research is to synthesize a novel manufacturing process to produce microcellular PET parts, by defining the conditions under which the polymer must be processed. Deformation in the foaming cycle will be integrated such that three dimensional parts may be produced while preserving the fragile microstructure. The basic idea is to seek a processing strategy that uncouples the deformation process from the cell nucleation and the polymer crystallization processes. The unique role of carbon dioxide in inducing crystallization in PET during the foaming process will be studied using the electron microscopy techniques. Differential Thermal Analysis will be used to determine the extent of crystallization as a function of gas concentration. The extent of coupling between the process functional requirements will be studied experimentally. Finally, an uncoupled process that will allow independent control of microstructure (average cell size and density), degree of crystallinity in the foam, and the part geometry, will be synthesized.