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Technology
Journal of Ma|erials Processing Technology 67 (1997~ 105 I1[

Processing

Effect of molding parameters on compression molded sheet molding compounds parts


Ki-Taek Kim ", Jin-Ho Jeong h Yong-Taek hn h.,
" Sam.~ung Adtam'ed lnsii:ute . / Technoh~gy, Suwon, Smtth Korea h Department o[ Me,'hanical Engineering, Korea Adtmwed Institute ~1 Science and Technoh~gy, Tatjon, South Korea

Abstract
A detailed experimental study was carried out to determine the effects of molding variables on the physical and mechanical propertie~, of compression molded SMC (sheet molding compounds) parts. Simple compression tests using grease oil and mylar sheet as a lubricant at various temperatures were examined in characterizing the complex effect of SMC resin, fiberglass, and temperature on the flow stress of SMC. To investigate the effect of the molding parameters on the tensile and flexural properties of molded flat parts, two different mold temperatures and mold closing speeds were used for fabrication of test specimens under plane-strain conditions. Surface roughness, tensile and three-point bending tests were used in determining the surface qualities and the mechanical properties of the compression molded SMC parts. The fiber orientation and distribution in the molded parts were also investigated by taking photographs of burnt fiat specimens and photographs using SEM (scanning electron microscope} of specimens of T-shaped cross-section. ,~ 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.
Keywords: Molding parameters; Compression molded sheet molding compound

1. Introduction

The applications of polymers and composite materials in automobile and aircraft industries are increasing because of the high strength-to-weight of the material. SMC is a thermosetting material that consists of unsaturated polyester resin and other additives reinforced with randomly-distributed chopped fiberglass sh'ands. It has evolved into a preferred candidate for automobile body panels and other functional components since it offers attractive features, such as its lower material cost, temperature resistance, and dimensional stability. One of the major manufacturing technologies employed in fabricating SMC parts is compression molding, which consists of four steps: material preparation, mold filling, curing, and ejection and cooling. Thus, the final mechanical properties and surface qualities of the compression molded parts are dependent on the rheological characteristics and molding conditions during mold filling and curing.

*Corresponding author. ytim@convex.kaist.ac.kr.

Fax:

+82

42

8693210" e-mail:

The mechanical properties and surface qualities of SMC molded parts with various formulations are one of the major considerations when comparing various SMC resins, improving existing resins or developi,~g new formulations for the application of SMC in the automobile industry. In order to evaluate the mechanical properties of the molded parts, typically one-foot square plaques are fabricated using the given formulations, then sample specimens are cut and tested for tensile strength and modulus, flexural strength and modulus, and Izod or notched lzod values. The inspection of the surface waviness is very important in automotive manufacturing, since even small defects should be inspected in outer panels such as hoods, trunks, roofs, and fenders, to produce excellent surface finish. Whilst the incorporation of chopped short fiberglass strands into the thermosetting SMC resin has allowed toughness and stiffness to the cured molded parts, there is the need for a better understanding of the overall effects of SMC resin components, mold design and processing variables on the flow characteristics and mechanical performance of the molded parts. Thus, Overley et al. [1] has conducted work on the physical testing technique capabilities and limitations of molded

0924-0136/97/$17.00 1997 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. PII S0924-0 ! 36(96 )02 827-0

106

K.T. Kim et al./Journal t~]"Materials Processhlg Technoh~gy 67 (1997) 105-111 (Unit: mm) . Average roughness 127 PrOfile ~
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Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of surface roughness measurement and nine measuring points.

SMC parts. They tried to determine the sources and magnitude of the variance involved in the physicalproperties testing of SMC resins. Farouk et al. [2] and McEwen et al. [3] also il~estigated the effects of curing time, mold temperature, and mold pressure on the mechanical properties of the molded PMR-15/C3K and SMC parts. In order to determine the surface quality of molded parts, Hupp [4] developed a method to quantitatively evaluate the surface waviness and ensured agreement of the quantitative method with qualitative visual methods available. Vaxman et al. [5] investigated the effect of the length of the chopped fiberglass on the rheological characteristics of the SMC resin and the fiber orientation. The prediction of the fiberglass orientation was investigated by Advani et al. [6]. The objective of this work was to determine the rheological property of an SMC charge used in experiments and the effects of molding parameters such as mold temperatures of 130 and 150C, mold closing speeds of 15 and 45 mm m i n - t , and different wall thicknesses of 3 and 7 mm under plane-strain conditions, on Young's modulus, the flexural modulus, the tensile strength, and the surface roughness. Simple compression tests using grease oil and mylar sheet as a lubricant at 28, 45, 60, and 75C were carried out in order to characterize the combined effect of the SMC resin, the fiberglass, and the temperature on the flow resistance of SMC. In order to obtain the tensile and flexural propertiez, five dog-bone type specimens suggested by ASTM [7] were made and used in the experiments. The resultant five test results were averaged to determine measures of the tensile and flexural strengths. In addition, a mechanically-measuring stylus-type surface-roughness tester was used for measurement of surface waviness, and a SEM was used in determining the effect of mold geometry with a rib (cross-sectional T-shape) on the fiberglass distribution and orientation in the molded parts under plane-strain conditions.

the chopped fiberglass used in the SMC formulation was 25.4 mm and its weight ratio was 28%. The other components are listed by parts by w t % as follows: bisphenol type resin 25; low profile additive 75: TBPB

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2. Experimental
The SMC charge used in the present investigation was provided by Aekyung Chemical Co. The length of

STRAIN

(b)
Fig. 2. Curves of stress vs. strain obtained from simple compression tests using grease oil on mylar sheet as a lubricant at various strain rates at: (a) 45C; and (b) 75C.

K.T. Kim 't al. dmwmd ol ,'llawrial~ Processing TeclmoloKv 67 i 997) 105 111

107

(t-butyl perbenzoate) 1" filler 140: release agent {ZnSt) 4: thickening agent (MgO) l" pigment 8: and styrene monomer: 3. In order to manufacture the test specimens, the instrumented mold set-up was made as described in Ref. [8]. The compression molding was carried out using a universal testing machine by Shimadzu Co. (model UH-50A, 50 ton hydraulic). The flat and the T-shaped cross-section mold sets were made of lowcarbon steel. The dimension of the flat part was 76.7 (width) m m x 101 (kngth) ram. The cross-sectional rib dimension was 9.8 mm in height and 6.35 mm in width for the cross-sectional T-shaped mold. The initial SMC charge thicknesses were 11 and 7 mm to make final plaque thicknesses of 7 and 3 ram, respectively. The molding temperature was controlled by f,-ur electric heating rods of 100 W capacity of each hnbedded in the top and bottom molds. Two molding temperatures, 130 and 150C, were used and mold closing speeds were either 15 or 45 mm min ~ , respectively. The molding was carried out under planestrain conditions in the length direction. A mechanically-measuring stylus-type smfaceroughness tester by Mitutoyo Co. (Suftest-400 model) was used in determining the surface waviness of the molded parts. In Fig. l, the schematic of the surface inspection is depicted. Since the measured data is given in lain and is scattered, depending on the measuring locations, AA was defined in the present investigation as follows:
.|'i

Table 1 Measured snrfi~ce-roughness da~a for ~ari,:us molding cor;Jit ons obtained from a fla~ plaque wilh a final thickness of 3 mm Mold temperature (C~ Mold closing speed imm rain .4.4 {txm~ R ...... {~m~ 130 45 0.27 2.11 !5{) 45 ~.295 ~9:~

J/

15 0.40 3,6S

15 0.42 3.53

tions were burnt to provide photographs for the investigation of the fiber orientation and distribution. In addition, a scanning electron microscope by 3eol Co. (model JSM840A) was used to investigate the fiberglass distributions and orientations in a T-shaped cross-section specimen which was made under a molding temperature of 150C and a speed of 45 mm rain-

3. Resu|ts and discussion Fig. 2(a) and (b) depict the stress and strain curves obtained from the simple compression test using grease oil and mylar sheet as a lubricant at 45 and 75C. The dimensions of the cylindrical test specimen used in the experiments was 32.4 mm diameter and 9 mm height. Four layers of the SMC charge were stacked to make the cylindrical specimen. The stacked initial specimen was slightly compressed to remove possible voids between the layers and to reduce slip during compression. The final height of the cylindrical specimen after compression was 2 ram. During the compression stages, constant strain rates of 0.005, 0.001, 0.05, and 0.1 s-~ were maintained by controlling the compression speed manually according to the compression level. A power-law model was used in the present investigation for representing the theological characteristics of the stress-strain data obtained fi'om the experiments as follows: # = C ( T ) g ''~r~ (MPa), where C and m are temperature dependent and should be determined from the experimental data. Here, T is given in absolute temperature. The values of m and C were calculated for four different temperatures and determined as a function of temperature as follows: C ( T ) = 0.0091 exp{2100.3/ T) and r e ( T ) = 1.4182- 1.5175 x 10- 9 exp( 5944.4/ T). In Table 1, the average values of the measured surface roughness, A A , and the maximum surface roughness values, Rma x, a r e given. From this table it was found out that average surface-roughness values obtained from the present molding conditions were in the range of 0.2-0.5 lam and decreased as the mold closing speeds increased at the same mold temperature.

A A - i=l

ii

where y; represents the n m ~ a l distance fi'om the centerline as shown in Fig. l and n is the measuring point numbers. Nine points in the flat plaque were selected for measurement. The dog-bone type tension and the three-point bending specimens were made from five different plaques following the guidelines described in the ASTM handbook [7]. In order to determine whether mechanical s~rengths are isotropic in the plaque or not, the test specimens were cut from the two directions 0 and 90 to the material flow direction under plane-strain conditions. An Instron 4206 with maximum effective load capacity of 150 kN was used for these tests. The cross-head velocity used in experiments was 0.5 mm rain-~ for the tension tests. For the three-point bending tests, cross-head veiocities of 1.2 and 2.6 mm r a i n - ~ were used for the 3 and the 7 mm plaque thicknesses, respectively. For each test, five specimens were used to obtain the relevant averaged quantities of surface roughness, tensile and flexural modulus. The flat plaques molded under the various condi-

108

K.T. Kin1 et al. / Journal o f Materials Processing TechnohJgy 67 ( ! 997) I05- ! ! i

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Fig. 3. C o m p a r i s o n o f the effect o f different molding conditions on the tensile properties with flat-plaque thicknesses of: {a) 3 mm; and (b) 7 mm.

In addition, the surface was smoother at the center than it was at the edges, due to the difference in the thermal history of each region during compression. In Fig. 3(a) and (b), the tensile properties for the flat plaques obtained from two different plaque thicknesses of 3 and 7 mm with two different mold temperatures (130 and 1500C) and mold closing speeds (15 and 45 mm min-~) are given, respectively. These figures show that the tensile strengths were in the range of 26-65 MPa and 44-65 MPa for the 3 and 7 mm thickness flat plaques, respectively, whilst the elongation was in the ranges of 1.5-3.9% and 3.7-4.9%. Although the effect of plaque thickness, mold closing speed, and temperature on the mechanical strength was minimal, it was found from the given data that the tensile strengths were not uniform in the plane direction of the plaque:

the tensile strength in the 0 direction to the flow direction was larger than the value in the 90 direction, due mainly to the plane-strain conditions during compression, where the chopped fiberglass strands seemed to align in the flow direction. Thus, flow control during compression molding is important in obtaining in-plane isotropic mechanical properties. In Fig. 4(a) and (b), are presented the flexural properties obtained from the three-point bending tests using the compression molded plaques of the two different thicknesses of 3 and 7 mm under two different mold temperatures (130 and 150C) and mold closing speeds (15 and 45 mm min-~). The flexural strengths were in the ranges of 105-187 MPa and 94-158 MPa for the 3 and the 7 mm thickness plaques, respectively. Similar to the results for the tensile strength, greater flexural

K.T. Kim et al. Jourmd of Material,~ Pr,'.'e,~sing Tedmol,~g)' 67 1997) 1 0 5 I l I

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Fig. 4. Comparison of the effect of different molding conditions on flexural properties with flat-plaque thicknesses of: (a) 3 mm; and (b} 7 mm.

strength values were obtained in the 0 direction compared to the 90 direction to the flow direction, for the same reasons. A photograph obtained from the flat specimen burnt in an electronic furnace at 530C for 20 min is given in Fig. 5. In this figure the fiber orientation and distribution in the flat plaque can be observed. In Fig. 6, a photograph obtained from a SEM of the T-shaped cross-section specimen is given. The specimen was obtained from the compression molding of a Tshaped under a cross-section mold temperature of 1500C and a mold closing speed of 15 mm m i n - ' These figures demonstrate clearly the distribution and orientation of the fiberglass strands and the effect of the

mold design during compression molding. The fiberglass strands were aligned in the direction of material flow. In addition, there existed two different regions, one being the densified SMC resin region and the other the densified fiberglass strands region. The first region was formed into a delta zone aear to the central region below the top surface, whilst the second region was located near to the corner of the rib. Inside the rib, a curved distribution of the fiberglass strands was observed. At the fiat flange region, the orientation of the fiberglass strands was parallel to the top surface of the geometry. Similar observations were made for other specimens obtained for different flange thickness and molding conditions. The formation of a densified SMC

110

K: T. Kim et al./ Journal of Mater&Is Processing Technology 67 (1997) !05-111

: : : % ::: (4) : .... :

...... (2)

(4)
(1) Original fiber distribution mm min- ').

(2)
(3)

Fig. 5. Photographs of fiber distribution in a burnt flat plaque of thickness of 7 mm (mold temperature of 150C and mold closing speed of 15

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resin region is strongly dependent on the surface quality of the molded parts because of the difference of thermal contraction of the SMC resin and the fiberglass strands.

4. Conclusions
In the present investigation, the flow resistance was measured and fitted to a power-law model and the effects of molding parameters on the mechanical properties of the compression molded parts were determined. Under the present molding conditions, it was found that as the mold temperature and the speed decreased, the tensile modulus increased, although the flexural modulus values were scattered. The fiber glass

was distributed randomly initially, but aligned to the flow direction for fiat plate molding. For T-shaped molding, a resin-densified delta region near to the center, below the top fiat die, was formed, whilst a fiberglass-densified region formed around the corner of the rib was in agreement with the flow direction of the SMC resin.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the grant from KOSEF and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry under which this work was possible and Aekyung Chemical Co. for providing SMC materials.

K. 7". Kim el al. ' Join'hal o.f MateriaLs Pr,'ces.sing Te,'hlmh,~,9, 67 (1997) 10.5 111

1I i

References
[1] J.R. Overley, J. Crichton and R, Sx~'anson, SMC plDsical property testing-test technique capabilities and limitations. 43rd Anmini Co~gl Proc., T!u' N,~. O/Hie P!mtic.~ lmh~slrv, ira'.. 19,q'8, S,:ss'i,n 13-D, pp. I 4. [2] A. Farouk and T.H. K,aon. Effect of processing parametcr.~ on compression molded PMR-t5 C3K composites. P , / t m . (',,,rap.. I! (61 11990) 379-386. [3] DA. McEwen and J. Newbould, Effec~ of molding conditions on the surface compositions of sheet molding compound, P,,/vm. G,mp., 12 (5) (1991} 315--319. [4] S.S. Hupp, A quantlta.tive method lot analysis of surfaces of molded SMC parts, 43rd Ammal Con tl Pro<, The S'oc. ,!t the Plastics ln&~str), hw., 1988. Session 10-.4, pp. I 4.

15] A. Vaxman and M. Narkis, Short-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics. Part lll: effect of tiber length on rheo~ogicM properties and liber orientation, Po/ym. (',rap., 10 16~ (1989~ 454 462. [61 S.G. Ad~ani and C.L. Tucker, A numerical simulation of shor~. fiber orientation in cu.npre.,,sim~ molding, Polym. Comp., 11 !31 (~)9111 D64 t73. [71 ,4:,,m,d B,,,k , d A S F M St,,Mard~, Standard lest me|hod ~or ~cnsde properties of plastics (metric), D638M-89. pp. ~6,q 173 and Standard test methods f~r flexura', properties of unrein[breed and reinforced plastics and ,qo,::rical insulating materials (metric}, D790M-86, 1989, pp. 2 9 0 2 9 7 . [8] J.H. Jeong, K.T. Kim and Y.T. |m, Plane-strain compression molding analysis of sheet molding compounds in ltat and crosssectional T-slmpe molds. J. Mater. Pr,,cess. T~'chnol.. 57 ~]996) 320- 331.

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