Influence of rib geometry and process parameters on the mechanical and morphological properties of foamed, long glass fiber‐reinforced polypropylene

One of the main challenges in the automotive industry is the development of lightweight components reducing energy consumption and emissions during production and use. For this purpose, material selection and the production process must be optimized. Lightweight, high‐performance materials such as long fiber thermoplastics (LFT) and lightweight technologies such as foam injection molding (FIM) are therefore ideal for achieving high weight reductions through adapted component designs. With the foam injection molding technology ProFoam, it is possible to achieve longer fibers in the component with long‐fiber thermoplastics and thus the weight‐specific properties can be improved. To analyze the potential of the foam injection molding process for the design freedom of lightweight components, plates with ribs are manufactured using injection molding and foam injection molding with a 10 % weight reduction. The process parameters injection speed, melt and mold temperature and the rib geometries are analyzed in this contribution. During foam injection molding process, it is found that cell formation and fiber length are significantly affected by melt temperature and injection speed, which influence further the mechanical properties