Molding Design

Introduction
The origin of the word "plastics" comes from Greek. Its original Greek

root means “to form”.

 The word polymers and plastics are often taken as synonymous but

in fact there is a distinction.

 The polymer is the pure material which results from

polymerization and is usually taken as the family name for materials

which have long chain-like molecules (and this includes rubbers)

 Pure polymers are occasionally used on their own and its when

additives are present the term plastic is applied

 The following additives are used in plastics:
• Antistatic agents- attract moisture from the air to the plastic surface

to improve the surface conductivity and reduce the possibility of a

spark or a discharge

• Coupling agents- improve bonding of the plastics to inorganic filler

materials , such as glass fibers

• Fillers- to improve the mechanical property of the plastic

• Reinforcement –to improve the strength and stiffness

• Flame retardants- to reduce the possibility of combustion –additives

such as bromine, chlorine, phosphorous or metallic salts

 Cont’d
• Lubricants- such as wax to reduce the viscosity of the
molten plastic and improve forming characteristics

• Pigments- to produce colors in the plastics

• Plasticizers (low molecular weight materials) to alter

the properties and forming characteristics of the plastic.

• Stabilizers- to prevent deterioration of the polymer due

to environmental factors
 Type of polymer
1. Natural polymer
2. Artificial polymer
Naturally occurring polymers are usually derived from plants
and animals and have been used for man centuries; wood,
rubber, cotton, wool, leather and silk
• Other natural polymers such as; proteins, enzymes starches,
and cellulose are important in biological and physiological
processes in plant and animals
• Many of our useful plastics, rubbers and fiber materials are
synthetic polymers
 Polymeric Material
• Synthetic large molecules are made by joining together
thousands of small molecular units known as
monomers.

• The process of joining the molecules is called

polymerization

• The names of many polymers consist of the name of

monomer with the suffix poly; eg: polypropylene,
polystyrene are produced from propylene and styrene
respectively.
 uses
• Automobile
› Weight (mileage)
• Aviation
› 767, 787
› Voyager, Space
• Ship One
• Everywhere
 Classification of synthetic polymer
• All plastics are polymers; these polymers are further divided into
two basic types:
Thermoplastics

Thermosetting plastics

• Thermoplastics melt when heated – so they can be melted and re-

formed again and again.

• Thermosetting plastics harden when they are heated, if heated

further, they will break down chemically and lose their properties.

• Some Thermosetting plastics have properties very similar to

rubber, and are used as synthetic rubber; they are categorized as
elastomers.
 Thermoplastics
• Represents 70% of the tonnage of all synthetic polymers
produced.

• Can be easily and economically shaped into products

• Can be subjected to this heating and cooling cycle repeatedly

without significant degradation of the polymer.

• General properties: low melting point, softer, flexible.

• Typical uses: bottles, food wrappers, toys,..

• Common TP polyethylene, polyvinylchloride, polypropylene,

polystyrene, and nylon
 Thermosetting plastics
• Thermosetting plastics have the property of becoming
permanently hard and rigid when heated or cured.
• It cannot be softened or re-mould. The phenol resins and plastics
were the original synthetic thermosetting materials.
• General properties: more durable, harder, tough, and light.
• Typical uses: automobile parts, construction materials.
Examples:
• Unsaturated Polyesters: lacquers, varnishes, boat hulls,
furniture
• Epoxies and Resins: glues, coating of electrical circuits,
composite materials like fiberglass used in helicopter
blades, boats, reinforcement and etc.
 Selection of Plastic Material
 In order to choose suitable plastic material for our application, we need to

understand the properties of different plastic material. The followings are

some common properties we need to consider before choosing the plastic

material.

Physical properties considerations

 Physical properties can be observed or measured without changing the

composition of matter. Physical properties are used to observe and describe

matter. The followings are some common physical properties.

 Density: Smaller density means lighter in weight if the volume of the

materials is the same.

 Cont’d
Water Resistant- describes how well plastic part resists to water

passage. Especially in some outdoor electrical device waterproof

should be considered.

Dimensional Stability- is the property of a polymeric part to retain

its form when subjected to varying degrees of thermal, moisture,

pressure, or other stress.

Softening and Melting Temperature- is the temperature when the

material will soften and melt. Different environment and purpose

may require different temperature range.

 Cont’d
Flammability of plastics- to measure the resistance of plastics to
a fame source.
Electrical properties- are the resistance, insulation, dielectric
strength, dissipation factor of the plastics.
Optical properties- are the gloss, transparency, haze, colour and
refractive index of plastics. Plastics can be product with a wide of
range of colours to meet the lifestyle demand of people.
 Mechanical properties considerations
• Mechanical properties describe how a material responds to the
application of a force or load. The followings are some common
mechanical properties.

 Tensile Strength is the ability of a material to withstand forces pulling

it apart.

 Impact Strength is the ability of a material to resist shock loading.

 Flexural Strength is the measure of how much stress (load) can be

applied to a material before it breaks.

 Ductility describes the extent to which a material can be deformed

without fracture.
• Hardness is the resistance to compression, indentation and scratch.
 Plastics Processing
 Many different methods are employed to convert plastics from
their raw state into finished products. In the industry the mass
production processes are moulding and thermoforming.

 Moulding includes injection moulding, extrusion, blow moulding,

compression and transfer moulding.

Polymer Processes
 Extrusion molding
 It is the continuous process for making large and long axis symmetric
products.

 Pellets, granules or powder is placed into a hopper and fed into the extruder
barrel.

 As screw in the barrel that turns it blends and moves the material down the
barrel.

 Material then forced through a die that is in desired shape. It is cooled by

water or air and cut to length.

 Largest production volume of plastics (bar, tube, sheet, film)

Figure: extrusion machine schematic ( source: Kalpakjian and schmid
 Blow Molding
 Blow molding is an automated process that is used for making hollow parts
from thermoplastic materials like piping and milk bottles and other lightweight.
 It is primarily used for making products with a uniform wall thickness and
where the shape is important.
 Molding process in which air pressure is used to inflate soft plastic into a mold
cavity
 Important for making one-piece hollow plastic parts with thin walls, such as
bottles
 Blow molding process
Type of blow moulding

•Extrusion blow moulding

•Stretch blow moulding

 Extrusion Blow Molding
 Extrusion blow molding: (1) extrusion of parison; (2) parison is
pinched at the top and sealed at the bottom around a metal blow
pin as the two halves of the mold come together; (3) the tube is
inflated so that it takes the shape of the mold cavity; and (4) mold
is opened to remove the solidified part.
 Accomplished in two steps:

1. Fabrication of a starting tube, called a parison

2. Inflation of the tube to desired final shape

 The blow molding process begins with melting of the plastic and

forming it in to a parison or preform, it can be done by extrusion or

injection molding.
 The parison is then clamped in to a mold and air is pumped in to it.

 The air pressure then pushes the plastic out to match the mold.

 Once the plastic has cooled and hardened, the mold open
up and the part is reject
 Stretch blow molding
• The plastic is first molded into a "preform" using the Injection Molded
Process. These preforms are produced with the necks of the bottles,
including threads (the "finish") on one end.

• For Stretch Blow Molding, the polymer is first heated to the glass
transition temperature. Then plastic is inflated and stretched with a hollow
core-rod. This process look like that of a rubber balloon inflation.

• Usually the preform is stretched with a core rod as part of the process.
 Materials and Products in Blow Molding
• Blow molding is limited to thermoplastics
• Materials: high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP),
polyvinylchloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• Products: disposable containers for beverages and other liquid
consumer goods, large shipping drums (55 gallon) for liquids and
powders, large storage tanks (2000 gallon), gasoline tanks, toys, and
hulls for sail boards and small boats
Blow mould Modeling
 Injection molding
 Polymer is heated to a highly plastic state and forced to flow under high
pressure into a mold cavity where it solidifies and the molding is then
removed from cavity.

 The screw rotates much like extrusion molder (it moves back as material in
front of it are melted) then it rams forward pushing the melted material into
the die.

 Injection molding used for large scale of production; so the basic

application area of injection molding process is where having large scale
production, discrete part has to be made(means that is not a continuous
part), then the volume is very large and the shape is very complex.
 Injection molding process
• Plastic material usually in the form of powder or pellets are fed from
hopper in to the ejection chamber.
• The piston or reciprocating screw arrangement is used to forward the
material inserted from the hopper in to the injection chamber.
• The material is heated in the injection chamber with the application of
heating element.
• Because of the pressure, the molten plastic flow and inter in to the mold
cavity or injected in to the mold cavity through the nozzle.
• Then the molded part quickly cooled in the mold within cooling
arrangement around the mold.
• Finally the plastic part is removed from the mold.
 cont’d
 Mold may contain multiple cavities, so multiple moldings are
produced each cycle

 Part size from ~ 50 g up to ~ 25 kg (more than 50 lb), e.g.,

automobile bumpers and the process cycle for injection molding is
very short, typically between 2 to 60 sec.

 Injection molding is economical only for large production

quantities due to high cost of mold

 Injection molding is the most widely used molding process for

thermoplastics
Two principal components:
1. Injection unit
• Melts and delivers plastic melt
• Operates much like an extruder
2. Clamping unit
Opens and closes mold each injection
cycle
 There are three zones whose functions as follows:
1. Feed zone
– Function to preheat the polymer and convey it to subsequent zones
2. Compression zone
– Function → to expels air trapped between the original granules
– Heat transfer from the heated barrel walls is improved as the materials thickness decreases
– The density change during melting is accommodated

3. Metering zone
– The functions is to homogenize the melt and hence to supply to the die region materials which is
of homogeneous quality at constant temperature and pressure
Schematic illustration
of injection molding
with (a) plunger and
(b) reciprocating
rotating screw.
 Injection Unit of Molding Machine
• Consists of barrel fed from one end by a hopper containing
supply of plastic pellets

 Inside the barrel is a screw which:

1. Rotates for mixing and heating plastic

2. Acts as a ram (i.e., plunger) to inject molten plastic into mold

 Non-return valve near tip of screw prevents melt flowing

backward along screw threads

 Later in molding cycle ram retracts to its former position

 Cont’d
Clamping Unit of Molding Machine
Functions:
1. Holds two halves of mold in proper alignment with
each other
2. Keeps mold closed during injection by applying a
clamping force sufficient to resist injection force
3. Opens and closes mold at the appropriate times in
molding cycle
Injection Molding Sequence
Cycle of operation for injection molding
 Factors Affecting the quality of product
during injection molding
• Rotation speed of screw
• Injection pressure
• Injection speed
• Heating system
• Back pressure
• Resin viscosity
• Temperature inside the barrel
.
 Back pressure: is the amount of pressure exerted by the material ahead of the
screw as the screw is pushed back in preparation for the next shot.
• Its effect is for homogenous mixture, proper melting, and to make for more
compaction
 Injection speed: a forward speed of the screw during its injection operation per
unit time.
• Its effect: easy injection of material, avoid short-shot, sometimes lead to
more fiber orientation.
 Thermoforming
 It is a close to mold process, pressure is applied to a vacuum through
mechanical means
 Flat thermoplastic sheet or film is heated and deformed into desired
shape using a mold.
 Heating usually accomplished by radiant electric heaters located on
one or both sides of starting plastic sheet or film
 Widely used in packaging of products (packaging trays for candy and
cookies) and to fabricate large items such as bathtubs, contoured
skylights, and internal door liners for refrigerators
 Compression and Transfer Molding
Compression molding – Pre-measured amount of plastic
introduced into the heated mold then the top half comes down
and applies pressure. Usually uses thermosetting plastics and
produces products like dishes, container caps, etc.
Compression molding

Transfer molding

(more complex shapes)

 Cont’d

Various thermoforming processes for thermoplastic sheet. These processes are

commonly used in making advertising signs, cookie and candy trays, panels for shower
stalls, and packaging.

Example of

product made

from thermoforming
Vacuum Thermoforming
Thanks