• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.323-329
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• 2023

There are many types of foam molding methods. The most commonly used methods are the pressure foaming method, in which foam resin is mixed with a foaming agent at high temperature and high pressure, and the normal pressure foaming method, which foams at high temperature without pressure. The polymer resins used for foaming have different viscosities. For foaming under normal pressure, they need to be designed and analyzed for optimal foaming conditions, to obtain resins with low melt-viscosity or a narrow optimal viscosity range. This study investigated how changes in viscosity, molding temperature, and cross-link foaming conditions affected the characteristics of the molded foam, prepared by blending rubber polymer with biodegradable resin. The morphologies of cross sections and the cell structures of the normal pressure foam were investigated by SEM analysis. Properties were also studied according to cross-link/foaming conditions and torque. Also, the correlation between foaming characteristics was studied by analyzing tensile strength and elongation, which are mechanical properties of foaming composites.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.314-319
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• 2011

Melt foaming method is one of cost-effective methods to make metal foam and it has been successfully applied to fabricate Mg foams. In this research, AZ31 Mg alloy ingot was used as a metal matrix, using AlCa granular as thickening agent and $CaCO_3$ powder as foaming agent, AZ31 Mg alloy foams were fabricated by melt-foaming method at different foaming temperatures. The porosity was above 41.2%~73.3%, pore size was between 0.38~1.52 mm, and homogenous pore structures were obtained. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the AZ31 Mg alloy foams were investigated by optical microscopy, SEM and UTM. The results showed that pore structure and pore distribution were much better than those fabricated at lower temperatures. The compression behavior of the AZ31 Mg alloy foam behaved as typical porous materials. As the foaming temperature increased from $660^{\circ}C$ to $750^{\circ}C$, the compressed strength also increased. The AZ31 Mg alloy foam with a foaming temperature of $720^{\circ}C$ had the best energy absorption. The energy absorption value of Mg foam was 15.52 $MJ/m^3$ at a densification strain of 52%. Furthermore, the high energy absorption efficiencies of the AZ31 Mg alloy foam kept at about 0.85 in the plastic plateau region, which indicates that composite foam possess a high energy absorption characteristic, and the Vickers hardness of AZ31 Mg alloy foam decreased as the foaming temperature increased.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.198-203
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• 2005

Melt extrusion foaming process for the preparation of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) scaffolds was carried out and the effects of foaming conditions on the pore structure of PLLA scaffolds and their mechanical properties were investigated. The porosity and mechanical properties of fabricated scaffolds were compared with the scaffolds obtained from the salt leaching method as well. It was found that the optimum pore structure was achieved when the PLLA melt was kept in extruder for the maximum decomposition time of blowing agent. In order to maintain the proper scaffolds structure, the blowing agent content should be less than $10\;wt\%$. It can be concluded that melt extrusion foaming process allows for the production of scaffold having higher mechanical properties with reasonable pore size and open cell structure for hard tissue regeneration even though it has less porosity than scaffolds made by salt leaching process.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.33.2-33.2
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• 2006

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

In this study, we applied microcellular foaming injection molding process to improve the performance of system air-conditioner drain fan which had been produced by injection molding process and studied the optimization of process conditions through 6-sigma process and response surface method (RSM) to reduce weight and deformation of products. Additive type, melt temperature, mold temperature, and injection screw shape were selected as the factor affecting the weight and deformation of the products by carrying out analysis of trivial many through ANOVA and design of experiment (DOE) method. Among the effect factor, we set the addictive type to Long G/F and screw shape to foaming screw which had the highest level of weight reduction and deformation reduction. The amount of foaming agent gas was set at 60 ml, which was the limit beyond which the weight of product did not decrease any more. For melt temperature and mold temperature, we studied the conditions where both weight and deformation were minimized using the RSM. As a result, we set the melt temperature to $250^{\circ}C$, fixed mold temperature to $20^{\circ}C$, and moving mold temperature to $40^{\circ}C$. The improvement effect was analyzed by appling the selected optimal conditions to the production process using the microcellular foaming injection molding. The results showed that the mean weight of product was measured to be 1,420g which was 19% lower than that measured in the current process. The standard deviations of the weights were found to be similar to those in the current process and it showed a low dispersion. The mean deformation was measured to be 0.9237mm, which represented a 57% reduction compared to the mean deformation in the current process, and the standard deviation decreased from 0.3298mm to 0.1398mm. Moreover, we analyzed the process capability for deformation, and the results showed that the short-term process capability increased from 2.73 to 6.60 which was even higher than targeted level of 6.0.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2008

Metal foam is one of the most interesting materials with various multi-functional properties such as light weight, energy absorption, high stiffness and damping capability. Among them, energy absorption property has keen interests in the field of automotives for passenger protection. Nowadays, researches about pore size and porosity control of the foam are increased to correspond them. However, though energy absorption properties are improved, these results are not cost-effective process. In present research, however, as a part of improving the energy absorption property of metallic foams, 606X aluminum alloy was used for cell wall material which has higher strength than pure aluminum. And its morphological features are characterized. As a results, porosity and pore size are uniformity distribution with increasing foaming temperature in the case of 6061 alloy foams. 6063 alloy foam specimens have opposite tendency because of the influence of alloying element and viscosity of the molten melt.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.98-104
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• 2018

Deflected 4-way panels of ceiling air conditioners produced by injection molding process have caused dew condensation at the edge of products. In order to prevent this drawback with reducing weight and deformation, this study proposed renovated process adopting microcellular foaming. According to results from 2-sample t-test and analysis of variance(ANOVA), the critical factors affecting weight were melt temperature and injection speed. In addition, the vital effects on deformation were structure at the edge, mold temperature and cooling time. Optimal conditions of these parameters were derived by regressive analysis with CAE and response surface method(RSM), and then applied to an actual design and process stage to analyze performance. As a results, it clearly showed that new process improved process capability as well as reduced both weight and deformation by 18.8% and 71.9% respectively compared to the conventional method.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.267-271
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• 2006

Metal foam is a class of attractive materials, which exhibits unique combinations of physical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and acoustic properties. In particular, it is light and good at absorbing energy, which makes it attractive in automotive and aerospace applications weight is critical. In this paper, the Mg alloy foam was prepared by melt foaming method by addition of calcium as thickening agent, and $TiH_2$ or $CaCO_3$ powder as blowing agent. The macrostructural observation of foamed Mg showed that the pore structures of Mg alloy foam made by $CaCO_3$ as blowing agent were much better than that of foams made by $TiH_2$ as blowing agent. In addition, this paper showed the possible reason of fabrication magnesium alloy foam in proportion to blowing agent and the porosity range was about 40 to 76% as results value.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.729-734
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• 2002

Porous Al metal was produced by batch type casting process. In this foaming process, the viscosity and surface tension of molten Al as two most important factors have been investigated in the temperature range of 680-95$0^{\circ}C$ by the ring method and rotational method respectively. The experimental results showed that both the surface tension and viscosity of the melt decreased linearly with increasing temperature. Addition of Ca decreased surface tension, but increased viscosity significantly.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.272-276
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• 2006

For the first time AZ91 (MgAl9Zn1) and AM60 (MgAl6) Mg alloy foams with homogeneous pore structures were prepared successfully via melting foaming method by using $CaCO_3$ powder as blowing agent. The possible foaming mechanisms and pore structures of these Mg alloy foams were discussed and investigated. The results show that Mg alloy melt can affect $CaCO_3$ decomposition behavior and AZ91 Mg alloy is relative easy to be foamed into metal foam with high porosity and big pore size.