Plastic Injection Moulding - Explained

You will be well aware what moulding is. Moulding can be precisely defined as giving a particular shape to something in a molten or plastic state. Plastics are widely used today instead of conventional glass, wood and other materials because of its high durability. These plastics are molded into desired shapes using various techniques. The plastic injection moulding is one of the cost effective moulding techniques available today.

Little history about Plastic injection moulding

The injection moulding process is not a new concept. It came into existence by 1872. By the introduction of plastic injection moulding, the plastic industry saw multi-billion dollar earnings, with 32 % of all plastics, by weight processed by injection moulding. This has made the plastic injection moulding the best pipe fitting mould manufacturers method ever available.

The Principle of Plastic Injection Moulding

Thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics are the two materials that is involved in the plastic injection moulding process. Some of the polymers used in injection moulding are Epoxy and Phenolic that comes under thermosetting plastics, whereas the nylon and polyethylene comes under the thermoplastics. In this process the liquefied plastic is fed into a heated barrel where the plastic granules are mixed and forced to form a mold cavity. Once this is done, the molded cavity is cooled and then hardened. The plastic moulding machine consists of the reciprocate screws to mix the plastic granules, while the moveable pattern molds the plastic into desired shape which takes place in the clamping part of the machine. The engineer designs the mould, and then a mold is manufactured by the mold maker either in aluminum or iron to make a desired part in a precision machine. Injection moulding is widely used for manufacturing variety of components from small parts to the entire components for vehicles.