![]() It is important to determine how many parts you wish to manufacture so as to decide whether injection moulding is the most cost-effective production method. The entry cost for injection moulding manufacture can be high – given the cost of the machinery and the moulds themselves. There are a number of considerations to bear in mind before undertaking injection moulding: 1. Financial As a result, there are various considerations that need to be taken into account when injection moulding. The injection moulding process requires careful design, including the shape and features of the part, the materials for the part and the mould and the properties of the moulding machine. While steel moulds are more durable they are also more expensive than aluminium moulds. Aluminium moulds are not best suited to high volume production or parts with narrow dimensional tolerances since they have inferior mechanical properties and can be prone to wear, deformation and damage due to the injection and clamping forces. Multiple cavity moulds can have identical parts in each cavity or can be unique to create parts of different geometries. ![]() Moulds can be made of single or multiple cavities. This technique can be used to add a soft touch to plastic products, add colours to a part or produce items with different performance characteristics. Separate materials can be combined in one part in a type of injection moulding called a two-shot mould. Mould tools are mounted on plate moulds (or ‘platens’), which open once the material has solidified so that ejector pins can eject the part from the mould. The cooling time can be reduced through the use of cooling lines that circulate water or oil from an external temperature controller. Heating bands melt the material in the barrel and the molten metal or molten plastic material is then fed into the mould cavity where it cools and hardens, matching the shape of the mould. Once the mould has been created by the mould-maker, the material for the part is fed into a heated barrel and mixed using a helical shaped screw. Most moulds are made from metal, usually aluminium or steel, and precision machined to match the features of the product they are to produce. The first stage of injection moulding is to create the mould itself. Injection moulding materials include metals, glasses, elastomers and confections, although it is most commonly used with thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. It is typically used as a mass production process to manufacture thousands of identical items. ![]() It works by injecting molten materials into a mould (or ‘mold’ in the United States). Injection moulding is a manufacturing process that allows for parts to be produced in large volumes. National Structural Integrity Research Centre.Structural Integrity Research Foundation. ![]()
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