Effect of Injection Molding Parameters on Recycled ABS (r-ABS) Mechanical Properties

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Recycled plastic resins are considered as low performance materials because of their properties decreased with the recycling process due to the loss of its chemical properties. This study aims to determine the strength and shrinkage of Recycled Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Sytrene (r-ABS) and virgin ABS when mixed according to the loading ratio. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The two-plate test mold was used to inject the specimen according to ASTM D638 using 50 tons an injection molding machine. By adopting the L9 Taguchi orthogonal array, three controllable factors at three levels are tested to determine the optimal combination of factors and levels in the injection molding process. The STATISTICA software applies for further analysis. Findings:The resultrevealed that at a high melting temperature and high injection pressure produceless shrinkage. The cooling time also affect the strength and shrinkage of r-ABS .Conclusion/ Application: The performance of recycled plastic resin mixed with a virgin can be effectively enhanced to desire requirement using the Taguchi optimization approach. Keywords: Recycled Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Sytrene (r-ABS), Shrinkage, Taguchi Methods, Tensile Strength