Fabrication of super ductile polymeric blends using microcellular injection molding

A novel ductility enhancing method for injection molded plastic parts has been developed. By applying microcellular injection molding to polymer blends of proper morphology, the ductility and toughness of the molded parts can be significantly improved while using less material. The key is to achieve a microcellular structure with a sub-micron scale immiscible secondary phase. Upon tensile loading, debonding of the secondary phase facilitates the interconnection of microcellular voids to form channels such that the stretched component becomes a bundle of fibrils. Compared with other toughening methods, this method achieved a more significant improvement in ductility and toughness.