Post-Processing Time Dependence of Shrinkage and Mechanical Properties of Injection-Molded Polypropylene.

Dimensions of the injection-molded semi-crystalline materials (polymeric products) decrease with the time that elapses from their formation. The post-molding shrinkage is an effect of secondary crystallization; the increase in the degree of polymer crystallinity leads to an increase in stiffness and decrease in impact strength of the polymer material. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the values of post-molding shrinkage of polypropylene produced by injection molding at two different temperatures of the mold (20 °C and 80 °C), and conditioned for 504 h at 23 °C. Subsequently, the samples were annealed for 24 h at 140 °C in order to conduct their accelerated aging. The results of shrinkage tests were related to the changes of mechanical properties that accompany the secondary crystallization. The degree of crystallinity of the conditioned samples was determined by means of density measurements and differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that the changes in the length of the moldings that took place after removal from the injection mold were accompanied by an increase of 20% in the modulus of elasticity, regardless of the conditions under which the samples were made. The differences in the shrinkage and mechanical properties of the samples resulting from mold temperature, as determined by tensile test, were removed by annealing. However, the samples made at two different injection mold temperature values still significantly differed in impact strength, the values of which were clearly higher for the annealed samples compared to the results determined for the samples immediately after the injection molding.