Injection molding advanced processes

Many of the new plastics, blends, and material systems require special, enhanced processing features or techniques to be successfully injection molded. The associated materials evolution has resulted in new plastics or grades, many of which are more viscoelastic. That is, they exhibit greater melt elasticity. The advanced molding technology has started to address the coupling of viscoelastic material responses with the process parameters. This requires an understanding of plastics as viscoelastic fluids, rather than as purely viscous liquids, as is commonly held... 

Plasticator A very important component in a melting process is the plasticator with its usual specialty designed screw and barrel used that is used in different machines (extruders, injection molding, blow molding, etc.). If the proper screw design is not used products may not meet or maximize their performance and meet their cost requirements. The hard steel shaft screws have helical flights, which rotates within a barrel to mechanically process and advance (pump) the plastic. There are general purposes and dedicated screws used. The type of screw used is dependent on the plastic material to be processed. 

Recendy, storm doors have been constmcted of advanced thermoplastic composites. Stampable, glass-mat reinforced polypropylene sheet is used to create a high strength outer skin. These compression molded skins are welded together using a friction or ultrasonic process then injection molded with a polyurethane foam core to produce an insulated structure. New technology for window frames incorporate the pultrusion of frame channels to produce a thermoset composite channel that can be filled with fiber glass for further insulation enhancement (12,31,33,34,48,49,54—56,60—67). 

Out of this experience come new processes such as in the past there was transfer compression molding and more recently came reaction injection molding (RIM). Very important is the fact that this development action continues to advance the use of the basic processes used in the industry. Those basic processes and a few others have been reviewed in this book. In this chapter a few of the others are reviewed. 

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