Injection molding is a manufacturing technology for the mass-production plastic parts with good tolerances. During injection molding process, polymer granules are melted and then injected by pressure into a mold where the liquid plastic cools and solidifies. Thermoplastic polymers which can be made in any color or filled with other additives, injection molding is widely used today for both consumer products and engineering applications. Almost every plastic item around you was manufactured using injection molding. Plastic molding allows high repeatability and good design flexibility. Injection mold requires high initial investment and long turn-around time.
With the help of molding technology, we can manufacture high volume part at a very low cost. But the initial set-up cost is high compared to other technology because of the needed custom tooling. The most common used material in injection mold include PP, ABS, PE and PS.
Injection molding machines consists of three main parts include injection unit, the mold and the clamping/ejector unit. How do they work? Plastic molding material is fed by a hopper into an extruder, that a reciprocating screw mixes and melts the material then injects it into a mold. Injection molding machines are rated by tonnage, which expresses the amount of clamping force that the machine can exert and keep the mold closed during the process. Most polymers can be injection molded. Products that are molded are wide and varied, ranging from large automotive parts to tiny gears.
The primary advantage of Plastic Molding is the ability to scale production to your specific needs. When the initial costs have been paid the price per unit during injection molded manufacturing is extremely low. The price also tends to drop considerably as more parts are produced. Other advantages include reduces waste, easily repeatable process, high production rates, wide range of available materials, low labor cost and little to no finish required.
If you are looking for injection molding near me, you are at the right place. TEAM Rapid has over 10 years injection molding experience. From parts design, mold design, materials, techniques selection and mass production, we are doing our best helps create more efficient and high-quality solutions throughout all stages of a product’s lifecycle. Contact us at [email protected] to learn more about us.
