Determination of Melt Flow Index (MFI) of polymer material

supplied

1. ABSTRACT:
In simple words, melt flow index (MFI) is a rheological property of a polymer specimen that
measure of the ease of flow of the melt of a thermoplastic polymer (1) . It is measured in g/10
min at a specific shear stress (related to applied load) and temperature. The terminology of
grams/10 minutes has even been shortened to “melt” when coupling it with a number. As an
example, when someone is working with a Polypropylene (PP) that has a melt flow index
value of 20 g/10 minutes, they will often refer to that particular grade of plastic as a “20 melt
PP”. An extrusion plastometer, more commonly referred to as a melt indexer, is used to
determine the MFI of virgin, compounded, and post-processed thermoplastics.
Melt flow index, also known as melt flow rate is an indirect measure of molecular weight.
With high melt flow rate corresponds to low molecular weight. It is inversely proportional to
viscosity of the melt at the conditions of the test, though it should be borne in mind that the
viscosity for any such material depends on the applied force. Ratios between two melt flow
rate values for one material at different gravimetric weights are often used as a measure for
the broadness of the molecular weight distribution.
Here in this experiment, standard method “ISO 1133” was followed and the result was found
to be MFR - melt mass-flow rate (2). This test method is widely used, especially in quality
assurance and goods inwards testing.

2. INTRODUCTION:
Melt flow tests are a simple method of characterizing the flow properties of a plastic melted
mass. Extrusion plastometers provide standard values for the melt index (MFR) and volume
index (MVR) of filled and unfilled thermoplastics to ISO 1133, ASTM D 1238 and other
similar standards (3).
Our followed standard ISO 1133:2005 specifies both procedures for the determination of the
melt mass-flow rate (MFR) and the melt volume-flow rate (MVR) of thermoplastic materials.
First method is a mass-measurement method and the other one is a displacement-
measurement method.
In first method, the material to be tested is loaded into the extrusion barrel of the extrusion
plastometer which is heated exactly to a preset temperature. After a specified pre-heating
period the molten material is extruded through the die by the force of the weight acting on
the piston. The extrudates are cut off at uniform time-intervals and their mass is then
determined on analytical scales. The test result is the extruded mass per unit of time, usually
stated in g/10 min the quality of the MFR result obtained is dependent on the accuracy of the
cutting times and the weighed mass. When low MFR values are involved, manual cutting is
only recommended if long cutting times are used. This method is suitable for individual tests
with lower specimen quantities.
 The second method requires the extrusion plastometer tester to be equipped with a piston
transducer which measures piston travel during the test. The MVR result is the extruded
material volume per unit of time and is expressed in cm³/10 min. It is calculated from the
distance that the piston travels per unit of time. A significant advantage of this method is the
elimination of mechanical cutting. With synchronized travel-time values high accuracy can
be achieved, even with short measuring times and short piston-travel. This enables up to 40
individual measurements from one barrel filling, depending on the material involved,
accuracy requirements and MVR result (4). Besides. this method is often used in production
checks as it is more suitable for automation and simpler in operation, mainly because no
weight determination is necessary for the individual extrudate cuts. Provided the density of
the melt is known, the MFR value can be calculated; connecting a balance to the instrument
enables melt density to be determined also (5).
These methods are in principle applicable to thermoplastics for which the rheological
behavior is affected during the measurement by phenomena such as hydrolysis, condensation
or crosslinking, but only if the effect is limited in extent and only if the repeatability and
reproducibility are within an acceptable range. For materials which show significantly
affected rheological behavior during testing, these methods are not appropriate. In such
cases, the use of the viscosity number in dilute solution, determined in accordance with the
relevant part of ISO 1628, is recommended for characterization purposes.
Here in this experiment we have used the first method as it is simple, easy to operate and can
provide relative accurate result in convenient way within short period of time.

3. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY:

 Materials:
 Flow extrusion plastometer
 Polypropylene particulates
 Glass rod
 Stopwatch
 Weight machine

 Methodology:
 First we have switched on the flow extrusion apparatus and set the
temperature at 190oC.
 Then, we fed the pure polypropylene into the cylinder of the apparatus and
applied loads by piston.
 Figure#01: Melt flow indexer Figure#02: Weighing the extruded
polymer
 We allowed the the polymer to melt and extruded through the jet.
 We weighed the extruded sample after 5 minutes and repeat this whole
procedure for three times.
 Finally we determine MFI(melt flow index) by the amount of polymer in gram
extruded in 5 minutes.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

4.1 Data Table:

Obsevation No Applied load Time interval Mass of Melt flow

in Kgf of cutting in extruded index,gm/10
min polymer gm miniute
for each time
interval
1. 2.16 5 1.533 3.066
2. 3.69 5 3.878 7.756
3. 4.89 5 6.42 12.84
 Load vs MFI
6

5 12.84, 4.89

4
Load(KgF)

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
MFI(g/10 min)

Fig: Load vs MFI

4.2 Result:
From the table we can see, the melt flow rate varies with applied load at constant time interval.
As the load increased the melt flow also increased at constant temperature.

4.3 Discussion:
The samples were carefully taken during the time interval and weighed. From the load vs MFI
curve we get consistent values also. As the load increased the melt flow index increased in a
proportional rate.

5. PRECAUTIONS:
 We have taken the reading of time and weigh very carefully.
 We fed polymer particulate constantly to maintain the steady state of slow
 We maintained all the safety measures while working on lab

6. REFERENCE:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melt_flow_index
(2)http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=3
1267
(3) http://www.zwick.com/en/applications/plastics/thermosetting-thermoplastic-
materials/melt-flow-test.htm
(4) http://www.zwick.com/en/products/melt-index-and-hdtvicat-testing-
instruments/extrusion-plastometers-melt-index-testers.html
(5) http://www.zwick.com/en/applications/plastics/thermosetting-thermoplastic-
materials/melt-flow-test.html
(6) http://www.ptonline.com/articles/how-to-get-better-mfi-results