Adhering wax to polycarbonate, CTE effects
Adhering wax to polycarbonate, CTE effects
(OP)
Hi everyone,
I was hoping to get some suggestions on additives I can modify a paraffin wax (160F melting point) with in order to get it to adhere reasonably well to a polycarbonate "mold", and maybe allow the wax to not "gap" away from the "mould" wall as the CTE effect kicks in with the cooling of the molten material.
I have attempted mixes of microcristalline wax (170F melting point) and paraffin wax, haven't acheived major success yet. I have looked at some tackifier rosins available out there, but haven't had a chance to try them yet - is that the correct approach to take? Are there any specific compounds you could recommend?
Thanks in advance!
-Gene
I was hoping to get some suggestions on additives I can modify a paraffin wax (160F melting point) with in order to get it to adhere reasonably well to a polycarbonate "mold", and maybe allow the wax to not "gap" away from the "mould" wall as the CTE effect kicks in with the cooling of the molten material.
I have attempted mixes of microcristalline wax (170F melting point) and paraffin wax, haven't acheived major success yet. I have looked at some tackifier rosins available out there, but haven't had a chance to try them yet - is that the correct approach to take? Are there any specific compounds you could recommend?
Thanks in advance!
-Gene





RE: Adhering wax to polycarbonate, CTE effects
If not, then an alternative might be to not fill the mold completely, but leave only enough for a thin coating and perhaps spin the mold to apply some force on the wax to stay with the mold. Once everything is cooled off, throw in another layer. After some number of layers, you could then fill the cold structure with the hotter wax. In that condition, the wax should contract and slump at the same time, leaving a dimple at the top.
TTFN
RE: Adhering wax to polycarbonate, CTE effects
All of your comments are valid, the problem is that polycarbonate is a hard requirement. Tried the thin coating approach - it doesn't work well enough. I am very much in need of a way to actually modify the material (wax).
I'd be very much willing to reduce the failure stress and modulus of the material (as a tradeoff) to gain some "tackiness". I imagine that that'd be the effect of a tackifier additive to this material. I would also really like to increase the strain-to-failure of the material - this would act to reduce the force that the internal stresses generate at the "bond boundary" and also allow the stresses in the material to relieve themeselves.
Thanks!
RE: Adhering wax to polycarbonate, CTE effects