Influence of Molding Conditions on Environmental Stress Cracking Resistance of Injection Molded Part

Environmental Stress Cracking(ESC) is one of the most common causes of unexpected brittle failure of thermoplastic polymers. The exposure of polymers to liquid chemicals tends to accelerate the crazing process, initiating crazes at stresses that are much lower than the stress causing crazing in air. In this study, ESC of acrylonitirile butadiene styrene(ABS) was investigated as a function of the molding conditions such as injection velocity, packing pressure, and melt temperature. A constant strain was applied to the injection molded specimens through a 1.26% strain jig and a mixture of toluene and isopropyl alcohol was used as the liquid chemical. In order to examine the effects of the molding conditions on ESC, an experimental design method was adopted and it was found that the injection velocity was the dominant factor. In addition, predictions from numerical analyses were compared with the experimental results. It was found that the residual stress in the injection molded part was associated with the environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR).