Abstract
PC/ABS thermoplastic blends are widely employed in manufacturing sectors, as it yields good mechanical behavior when subjected to dynamic loading conditions. While investigating the fundamental nature of PC/ABS blends, ultrasonic welding process appears to suit their joining as compared to other conventional techniques. This paper focuses on PC/ABS welding using ultrasonic and the subsequent investigation from the insight of thermal science. It is imperative for the materials to retain key properties after subjecting it to welding. Examinations to evaluate these properties through DSC reveal a lower onset temperature change and a small variation of glass transition temperature, respectively, for parts which indicate minimal changes in thermal properties in welded and non-welded specimens. Apparent activation energies determined from TG data are practically independent of heating rates, which suggests that the most important process in the degradation of these materials corresponds to ABS. Those mixtures with high PC content show a clear increase in apparent activation energies with heating rate, suggesting that the thermal degradation mechanism of these samples is composed of several complex processes, each predominant during different stages of the overall process. SEM is used to investigate the structural morphology of the welded parts.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Herpels JJ, Mascia L. Effects of styrene-acrylonitrile/butadiene ratio on the toughness of polycarbonate/ABS blends. Eur Polym J. 1990;26(9):997–1003.
Dong L, Greco R, Orsello G. Polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene blends: 1—complementary etching techniques for morphology observations. Polymer. 1993;34(7):1375–82.
Quintens D, Groeninckx G, Guest M, Aerts L. Mechanical behavior related to the phase morphology of PC/SAN polymer blends. Polym Eng Sci. 1990;30(22):1474–83.
Yazdi M, Lee-Sullivan P. Determination of dual glass transition temperatures of a PC/ABS blend using two TMA modes. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2009;96(1):7–14.
Farzadfar A, Khorasani SN, Khalili S. Blends of recycled polycarbonate and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene: comparing the effect of reactive compatibilizers on mechanical and morphological properties. Polym Int. 2014;63(1):145–50.
Bernhard S, Kristin HR, Martin B. Synergistic use of talc in halogen-free flame retarded polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene blends. American Chemical Society; 2012. p. 15–36.
Difallah BB, Kharrat M, Dammak M, Monteil G. Mechanical and tribological response of ABS polymer matrix filled with graphite powder. Mater Des. 2012;34:782–7.
Leszczyńska A, Njuguna J, Pielichowski K, Banerjee JR. Polymer/montmorillonite nanocomposites with improved thermal properties Part I: factors influencing thermal stability and mechanisms of thermal stability improvement. Thermochim Acta. 2007;453:75–96.
Zhong H, Wei P, Jiang P, Wang G. Thermal degradation behaviors and flame retardancy of PC/ABS with novel silicon-containing flame retardant. Fire Mater. 2007;31(6):411–23.
Greco R, Astarita MF, Dong L, Sorrentino A. Polycarbonate/ABS blends: processability, thermal properties, and mechanical and impact behavior. Adv Polym Technol. 1994;13(4):259–74.
Zhao YQ, Liu QJ, Guo RB, Chen FQ, Qu JP, Jin G. Morphology, mechanical and thermal properties of recycled PC/ABS blends processed via vane extruder. Int Polym Process. 2014;29(2):207–13.
Wang W, Zhao G, Guan Y, Wang J, Wang C. Study on effects of short glass fiber reinforcement on the mechanical and thermal properties of PC/ABS composites. J Appl Polym Sci. 2014;131(17):40697.
Greco R, Sorrentino A. Polycarbonate/ABS blends: a literature review. Adv Polym Technol. 1994;13(4):249–58.
Suresh KS, Rani MR, Prakasan K, Rudramoorthy R. Modeling of temperature distribution in ultrasonic welding of thermoplastics for various joint designs. J Mater Process Technol. 2007;186(1):138–46.
Semba T, Hamada H. Weld line strength in PC/ABS injection moldings. Int Polym Process. 1999;14(4):365–9.
Benatar A, Eswaran RV, Nayar SK. Ultrasonic welding of thermoplastics in the near-field. Polym Eng Sci. 1989;29(23):1689–98.
Suarez H, Barlow JW, Paul DR. Mechanical properties of ABS/polycarbonate blends. J Appl Polym Sci. 1984;29(11):3253–9.
Shieu F-S, Wang B-H. On the microstructure and tensile strength of PC/ABS polymer blend joints. J Polym Res. 1995;2(4):263–7.
Troughton MJ. Handbook of plastics joining: a practical guide. Norwich: William Andrew; 2008.
Das CK, Malas A, Pal P, Friedrich S, Gehde M. Ultrasonic welding of amorphous and semi crystalline materials. Adv Mater Res. 2013;716:271–5.
Norouzi A, Hamedi M, Adineh VR. Strength modeling and optimizing ultrasonic welded parts of ABS-PMMA using artificial intelligence methods. Int J Adv Manuf Technol. 2012;61(1–4):135–47.
Rani MR, Prakasan K, Rudramoorthy R. Studies on thermo-elastic heating of horns used in ultrasonic plastic welding. Ultrasonics. 2015;55:123–32.
Kim JK, Kang CK. Basic studies on recycling of ABS resin. Polym-Plast Technol Eng. 1995;34(6):875–90.
Golebiewski J, Galeski A. Thermal stability of nanoclay polypropylene composites by simultaneous DSC and TGA. Compos Sci Technol. 2007;67(15):3442–7.
Fitaroni LB, de Lima JA, Cruz SA, Waldman WR. Thermal stability of polypropylene–montmorillonite clay nanocomposites: limitation of the thermogravimetric analysis. Polym Degrad Stab. 2015;111:102–8.
Blom H, Yeh R, Wojnarowski R, Ling M. Detection of degradation of ABS materials via DSC. Thermochimicaacta. 2006;442(1):64–6.
Chiang W-Y, Tzeng G-L. Effect of the compatibilizers on flame-retardant polycarbonate (PC)/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) alloy. J Appl Polym Sci. 1997;65(4):795–805.
Nigam I, Nigam D, Mathur GN. Effect of rubber content of ABS on properties of PC/ABS blends. I: rheological, mechanical, and thermal properties. Polym-Plast Technol Eng. 2005;44(5):815–32.
Rostami A, Masoomi M, Fayazi MJ, Vahdati M. Role of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on rheological, thermal and electrical properties of PC/ABS blend. RSC Adv. 2015;5(41):32880–90.
Choi HJ, Park SH, Kim JK, Jun JI. Effects of acrylonitrile content on PC/ABS alloy systems with a flame retardant. J Appl Polym Sci. 2000;75(3):417–23.
Krache R, Debah I. Some mechanical and thermal properties of PC/ABS blends. Mater Sci Appl. 2011;2(05):404.
Tarantili PA, Cuppoletti J. Composites of engineering plastics with layered silicate nanofillers: preparation and study of microstructure and thermomechanical properties. INTECH Open Access Publisher; 2011.
Yin ZN, Wang TJ. Deformation of PC/ABS alloys at elevated temperatures and high strain rates. Mater Sci Eng, A. 2008;494(1):304–13.
Pour RH, Soheilmoghaddam M, Hassan A, Bourbigot S. Flammability and thermal properties of polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene nanocomposites reinforced with multilayer graphene. Polym Degrad Stab. 2015;120:88–97.
Suzuki M, Wilkie CA. The thermal degradation of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene terpolymei as studied by TGA/FTIR. Polym Degrad Stab. 1995;47(2):217–21.
Zong R, Yuan H, Liu N, Wang S, Liao G. Evaluation of the thermal degradation of PC/ABS/montmorillonite nanocomposites. Polym Adv Technol. 2005;16(10):725–31.
Chiang W-Y, Hwung D-S. Properties of polycarbonate/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene blends. Polym Eng Sci. 1987;27(9):632–9.
Balart R, Sánchez L, López J, Jiménez A. Kinetic analysis of thermal degradation of recycled polycarbonate/acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene mixtures from waste electric and electronic equipment. Polym Degrad Stab. 2006;91(3):527–34.
Triantou MI, Chatzigiannakis EM, Tarantili PA. Evaluation of thermal degradation mechanisms and their effect on the gross calorific value of ABS/PC/organoclay nanocomposites. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2015;119(1):337–47.
Pérez JM, Vilas JL, Laza JM, Arnáiz S, Mijangos F, Bilbao E, Rodríguez M, León LM. Effect of reprocessing and accelerated ageing on thermal and mechanical polycarbonate properties. J Mater Process Technol. 2010;210(5):727–33.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Snam Alloys R&D, Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chinnadurai, T., Arungalai Vendan, S. Thermal and structural analysis of ultrasonic-welded PC/ABS blend for automobile applications. J Therm Anal Calorim 127, 1995–2003 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-5748-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-5748-4