Gloss and surface topography of ABS: a study on the Influence of the injection molding parameters

Abstract

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is used in applications where the surface appearance is important. Plates with surface texture, varying from highly smooth to very rough, were injection molded with various processing conditions. Morphology, roughness, and gloss of the surface were assessed in relation to the processing parameters. The surface characterization of the moldings was done using reflected differential interference contrast microscopy and laser microtopography. It was observed that the surface properties are affected by the molding parameters. The mold temperature, followed by the injection temperature and the holding pressure are the more influent parameters. The contribution of each parameter to the gloss varies with the type of surface, but for most of the surfaces the contribution of the mold temperature was above 90%. In general, higher values of these parameters improve the replication accuracy that reduce the roughness (and increase the gloss) of very smooth surfaces and cause the opposite effect in other surfaces. In surfaces with an anisotropic texture the gloss depends on the measuring direction