392 HANDBOOK OF TROUBLESHOOTING PLASTICS PROCESSES
negatively impact profits. Thorough and systematic analysis can pinpoint the exact prob-lem cause and identify the most cost and time-effective solution.
18.6 Problems and Solution(ร)
Compression molding is widely used in the automotive industry for producing exterior body panels. For the last two decades, and in spite of many cosmetic problems [26-27], compression molded parts usage has increased for exterior body panels such as hoods, deck lids, and door panels. The cosmetic problems most commonly observed in compres-sion molded parts are sink marks over ribs and bosses, long term waviness, and surface porosity [28-29]. Painting or coating the molded part can be very effective in providing a cosmetic surface free from substrate porosity [30].
A low profile agent such as thermoplastic material mixed with the resin just prior to com-pounding has been found to reduce the polymerization shrinkage as it cures in the mold and in turn reduces sink marks and long term waves observed on the part surface [31-34].
Using coatings and low profile additives has reduced sink marks. However sink marks can still exist in the molded parts. To solve the sink mark problem one must style and design surface contours so that sink marks are concealed [35]. Jutte et al. [36] studied the role of polymerization and thermal shrinkage, and concluded that the polymerization shrinkage can be minimized by using low profile agents.
Thermosets are inherently brittle, organic additives can be used to improve the fracture toughness of these materials. For thermosets, that are lightly cross-linked, reactive oligo-mers that phase separate during cure help and for highly cross-linked thermosets, thermo-plastic toughening agents can be used.
During pressing the temperature and the pressure are substantially increased. This means that even large voids can be dissolved in a very short time. If the pressure is large enough within the resin most enclosed gas should dissolve and SMC products ought to be com-pletely free from voids. It is well known that these items can have a relatively high void content. There are several reasons for this.
Still some issues are unresolved such as fiber reorientation during processing, which strongly affects the final SMC strength [37] and residual void formation which can cause large surface defects after painting and lower the electrical insulation capacity of the part manufactured [38].
The voids located in the SMC during pressing may have entered the SMC via:
• the constituents when they are mixed to form the SMC
• being enclosed during the lay-up procedure
• or formed as the charge flows in the mold during pressing [39- 41].
It may also happen that during the curing process the pressure becomes too low and SMC constituents such as styrene start to boil Regardless of how the voids form, their final size and location are strongly affected by the fluid pressure in the SMC during compression. Specifically, it has been observed that the formation, movement, and amount of voids are strongly related to the temporal and spatial distribution of the pressure and the pressure gradients, where high pressures [42], and pressure gradients [43], generally gives a low residual void content since it enables the voids to move forward through fiber networks