Flow Marks of Polypropylene (PP) Composites in the Injection Molding

Flow mark is a sort of surface defect on the composite that can arise during the filling stage of the injection molding process. The purpose of this study is to clarify a mechanism of the flow mark which appears on the surface of injection molded Polypropylene (PP) through the characterization of the surface structure. The materials used in this report are PP/rubber and PP/talc compounding, which are widely used in automobile part. The flow mark shows two different constitutions, such as a luster part and a cloud part on the surface of the injection molded PP. We have investigated the surface structure of PP/rubber and PP/talc composites by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) and optical microscopy (OM). As a result, the cloud part contains higher contents of the rubber and talc compare to the luster part.