Residual stresses and thermoviscoelastic deformation of laminated film prepared for film insert molding

Residual stresses and thermoviscoelastic deformation of a laminated film utilized for film insert molding was investigated through measurement of thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) and relaxation modulus. Thermoviscoelastic deformation of the film was also analyzed with numerical analysis by applying measured relaxation modulus, CTE, and residual stress to finite element method (FEM). Stress relaxation of the pristine film showed significantly different behavior from that of the unannealed film during annealing. Effects of the CTE and relaxation modulus on the thermoviscoelastic deformation were predicted by considering thermal shrinkage and structural relaxation. Moreover, numerical results on thermoviscoelastic deformation were in good agreement with experiments when initial stress distribution in the solid specimen was applied to the numerical analysis. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers