The Effect of Processing Conditions on Phase Morphology and Mechanical Properties of PA6/PC/NBR Ternary Polymer blends: Optimization Using Taguchi Experimental Analysis

The effects of processing conditions, consisting of blending sequence, die temperature and screw speed were studied for ternary polymer blends based on Polyamide 6 (PA6)/Polycarbonate (PC)/Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber (NBR). The ternary blends were prepared at fixed compositions (80wt% PA6/10wt% PC/10wt% NBR) using counterrotating twin-screw extruder under three levels of blending sequence (B.S1, B.S2 and B.S3) die temperature (230, 240 and 250 ? C) and screw speed (70, 100 and 130 rpm). Whereas B.S1 blending sequence is mixed simultaneously for all components by Collin extruder; B.S2 blending sequence is produced a per-blends of minor phases (PC+NBR) and added to matrix phase (PA6); and B.S3 blending sequence is produced a per-blends of plastic phases (PA6+PC) and added to rubber phase (NBR). The mechanical properties such as tensile properties and impact strength are influenced by processing conditions and the mean effects of each factor were calculated to investigate the role of them on the mechanical properties. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) micrographs were confirmed the results of mechanical testing. The experimental design was performed using Taguchi experimental Analysis as a powerful tool for synthesis optimization and was obtained the optimum processing conditions for PA6/PC/NBR blends.