Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Plastics SEBS
Plastics SEBS
DS – Plastics for Injection Moulding
Styrene‐ethylene/butylene‐styrene (SEBS)
Tampere University of Technology – Sanna Nykänen
One of the most used thermoplastic rubbers in injection moulding is styrene‐ General
ethylene/butylene‐styrene, SEBS. Styrene‐ethylene/butylene‐styrene is a block
copolymer in which ethylene/butylene‐ block separates two styrene‐blocks.
Figure 1: Linear and radial structure of
SEBS.
Figure 2: Repeating unit of SEBS.
Properties
Positive properties of SEBS: Positive
properties
− High tensile strength and –modulus
− Good miscibility
− Good wear resistance
− Good electrical properties
− High coefficient of friction
− Transparency
Negative properties of SEBS: Negative
properties
− Low high temperature resistance
− Low oil and solvent resistance
Styrene‐ethylene/butylene‐styrene ‐ 1
CAE DS – Plastics for Injection Moulding
Processing
SEBS can be injection moulded. Nozzles of injection moulding machine and mould
Injection
have to be round and spacious because after‐ pressure should have enough time for
moulding
interacting with the moulded part. If there are many cavities in the mould, chan‐
nels should be well balanced.
The gate of mould’s nozzle has to be at least half of part’s wall thickness and the
minimum gate size 0.7 mm. Because SEBS is an elastic material, it is possible to use
large undercuts. The amount of undercut depends heavily on hardness of used
SEBS trade. Usually it is necessary to use ejection plate on ejection before opening
the mould because soft mass does not usually endure ejector pins.
Mould shrinkage depends on SEBS grade and fluctuates between 0.5 ‐ 3.5 %. This
has to be taken into account when designing the mould cavity and ejection. Gas
removal channels’ depth should be from 0.02 to 0.05 mm depending also on SEBS
grade. Unsatisfactory gas removal leads to weak weld lines.
Mould temperature should be relatively low (+ 40 °C). Mass temperature should be
from 170 to 230 °C.
Applications
Applications
− Rubber products of car industry
− Cables
− Soles
− Glues
− In coinjection moulding with thermoplastics
Trade names
Trade names
− Kraton G ( Kraton Polymers LLC, USA)
− Toprene ( Kuhmo Petrochemical Co.)
References
Järvelä et al., Ruiskuvalu, Plastdata, Tampere, 2000.
Dominghaus, Plastics for engineers, Hanser 1993.
Styrene‐ethylene/butylene‐styrene ‐ 2