AN INFLUENCE OF SIO₂-ADDED POLYPROPYLENE ON UNIFORM THICKNESS THROUGH THERMOFORMING PROCESS PARAMETERS

The achievement of uniform thickness in the polypropylene (PP) part is a difficult task in the view of selection of thermoforming process parameters such as sheet heating temperature, mold temperature, and vacuum pressure. Hence, in order to achieve the uniform thickness in the polypropylene part, the SiO 2 is added with the PP part using a twin-screw extruder. The oxide weight percentage varies from 5[Formula: see text]wt.% to 20[Formula: see text]wt.% with 5[Formula: see text]wt.% equal intervals. The energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), hardness, and scratch depth analysis are performed on fabricated polypropylene composite. The SiO 2 influence with sheet heating temperature, mold temperature, and vacuum pressure on top corner thickness, wall thickness, and bottom corner thickness of fabricated polypropylene composite is also studied. After the thermoformed part, the EDS found that tthe agglomerations of oxides were seen in the part. X-ray diffractometry showed the presence of major elements such as oxide and carbon. The 91% hardness was achieved with the addition of 20[Formula: see text]wt.% SiO 2 as compared with PP. The SiO 2 was more influential for improving the thickness of the part compared with thermoforming process parameters.