Polypopylene/nanoclay three-dimensional parts were
produced without intermediate steps by direct injection
molding to explore the influence of flow features and
nanoclay incorporation in their impact performance.
The nanocomposite was obtained by direct compounding
of commercial PP with nanoclay masterbatch. The
as-molded morphology was analyzed by X-ray and
TEM analyses in terms of skin-core structure and
nanoclay particle dispersion. The nanoclay particles
induced the reduction of b-form spherulites, a known
toughener. The impact behavior was assessed in tensile
and biaxial modes. The PP nanocomposite molding
toughness was practically unaffected by the processing
melt temperature and flow rate. Conversely the
nanoclay presence is influent in the impact performance.
Under biaxial stress impact, the regions close to
weld lines are tougher than the bulk and the fracture
develops with main crack paths along the flow direction
and the weld line. Cracking along the weld line
results from less macromolecular interpenetration and
chain entanglement, and unfavorable nanoparticle orientation.
It seems that a failure mechanism which
involves nanoclay delamination and multiple matrix
crazing explains the toughening of PP in the directions
where the nanoparticle orientation with respect to
loading is adequate.Contract grant sponsors: CONICET, ANPCyT from Argentina, MINCyT (Argentina) - FCT (Portugal), Universities Nacional de Mar del Plata and Minho
