The injection molding process is a conformation process of thermoplastic polymeric material that at present, has a great economic and technologic significance. Its study has supposed a lot of research task related with the determination of optimal process conditions.
By the other hand, the recycled polymeric materials obtained from injection waste material such as sprues and runners are an important source of prime materials that can be used for obtaining products with good quality and lower costs in comparison convectional products. To the economical benefit assumed by the reutilization of injection waste material has to be added the savings of avoiding the waste management with the subsequent environmental benefit.
Nowadays polymers are blended in order to obtain a new material that combine physical characteristics of virgin materials. Physical characteristics of materials made by this composition are more desirable than the same physical characteristics of virgin materials. Characteristics of blended material are unknown until mix has been done and characterized.
The aim of this work is to determine the influence of the processing conditions over ABS rheological characteristics, in addition two mathematical approaches have been proposed. The first one can predict the viscosity of an ABS reprocessed by injection in function of the conditions that have been applied in the processing. The second model can determine the parameters that define the viscosity of a blend from the viscosity parameters of the original polymers.
Consecutive injection process of two ABS grades with different melt flow index has been used to simulate the reprocessing in a laboratory environment. Thus, all processing history data are available and consequences of degradation are quanti?ed easily.
The objectives of this investigation are to determine and quantify the effects of the thermal and shear rate history on the viscosity at high shear rates.