Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate the morphological changes of polymers when the volume expansion of polymer-gas mixtures is suppressed. The polycarbonate-CO2 mixture specimens used in the experiments were prepared using a pressure vessel used in the batch foaming process. The foaming was carried out in an oil bath, which does not inhibit volume expansion, and in constant volume foaming equipment, which is specially designed to suppress volume expansion. Experiment results confirmed that the foaming temperature increased when the volume expansion of the specimens was suppressed. As the volume expansion of the specimens decreased, their foaming rate also declined relative to the oil bath. These phenomena can be explained by the fact that the volume expansion of the specimens during foaming was suppressed by the cavity of the constant volume foaming equipment. Moreover, external pressure was applied to the specimens, and pressure gradient was observed in the polymer.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program via the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), which is funded by the Ministry of Education (No. NRF-2018R1D1A1B07049405).
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Recommended by Associate Editor Seok-min Kim
Sung Woon Cha is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, in 1994.
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Lee, J., Sohn, J.S., Ryu, Y. et al. Suppression of cell creation through control of volume expansion. J Mech Sci Technol 33, 4407–4411 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0743-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0743-x