The effect of foaming agent on mechanical and physical properties of Polypropylene

In this study, Polypropylene (PP) foam materials were used with injection parameters such as melting, molding and injection temperatures. To produce foam materials, chemical foaming agents were used, and added to polymer materials as 1wt.%, 1.5wt.%, 2wt.%, 2.5wt.%, 3wt.%. The mechanical properties of foam samples were determined based on the parameters. Cell morphology characterization such as cell diameter, cell count, skin layer thickness and cell density, and mechanical properties such as tensile and impact strength of polymer foams were examined. Generally, the closed-cell foam structure was obtained. The most important parameters affecting the cell morphology have been injection pressure, melt temperature and amount of foaming agent. With increasing the amount of foaming agent, cell density increased, foam density and mechanical properties decreased.