Investigation of Melt Flow Index and Impact Strength of Foamed LLDPE for Rotational Moulding Process

Abstract

Rotational molding of foamed polyethylene has increasingly become an important process in industry because of its thicker walls, low sound transfer, high stiffness and good thermal insulation. However, the foaming process of polyethylene during rotational molding has not been well studied. The focus of thisarticle is to assess the rotomoldability of foamed polyethylene and to investigate how LLDPE foam influence the process of rotational molding and the final product quality. Rotational molding experiments are carriedout in a laboratory scale biaxial machine. Impact tests and melt flow property are performed on the rotationally molded parts. It is found that the MFI and impact strength of rotomoulded product increases as the foam percentage increases up to 6% after which both decreases. Therefore it is concluded that 6% of foam is the optimum level to obtain sufficient melt flow index and better impact strength.