Polymer rheology at high shear rate for microinjection moulding

In this paper, we present the rheology of a high-density polyethylene for microinjection moulding. At high flow rate, pressure becomes high enough so that shear heating and pressure-dependence of the viscosity cannot be neglected. Moreover, spurt and chaotic defects related to wall slip were encountered. Nevertheless, we used classical data processing. We obtained viscosity at high shear rate which is lower than the viscosity obtained with the Carreau-Yasuda extrapolation of the moderate shear rate data. In order to discuss the origin of this difference, we developed a flow numerical simulation in the capillary where we take into account pressure and temperature dependent viscosity. The relative importance of these phenomena and their coupling is presented. Then, injection moulding experiments were carried out in a plaque mould. Different moulding parameters were tested. A three dimensional injection moulding numerical simulation, using Rem3D software, was carried out. The quality of the different sets of rheological data is assessed by comparing computed and measured pressure.