Amaro, Walter & Diviani, Luca & Montorfano, Davide & Oberrauch, Ermanno & Depinto,

Gabriele & Segalini, Simona & Levi, Marinella & Turri, Stefano. (2004). Controlling
the shrinkage of polymers for customized shoe sole manufacturing. Int. J. Computer
Integrated Manufacturing. 17. 633-644. 10.1080/0951192042000273203. Selected
polymers and polymer blends suitable for shoe sole manufacturing were processed by
means of two different moulding technologies (injection and compression) and the
shrinkage of standard square specimens were measured. This paper, the experimental
work of which was performed according to design of experiments techniques, aims to
understand the influence of composition and process factors, with the ultimate
objective of mastering shrinkage control to a satisfactory degree. In the case of
injection moulding, the polymer of choice was a thermoplastic styrene-butadiene-
styrene block copolymer with a shrinkage reducing agent additive. Process
conditions were fixed and shrinkage control was obtained by subjecting the moulded
parts to thermal treatment at an appropriate temperature, according to a
calibration curve. For the compression moulding process, elastomeric polyurethane
or its blends with EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer) and talc were used. Here
also, the process conditions were fixed, shrinkage was controlled by an appropriate
formulation of polymer compound and statistical models were generated allowing
shrinkage to be predicted. As all this work was based on laboratory polymer
specimens, setting up rules for real-world shoe sole manufacture is beyond its
scope. Nevertheless, the results obtained so far represent a sound experimental
background for evaluating the feasibility of further process developments.