INJECTION MOLDING

PREPARED BY:
SHREYANSH SHUKLA (141030011020)
ASHUTOSH GUPTA (141030011003)
 Process overview

Plastic is melted with help of heaters.

Plastic melt is then forced into the cavity of closed mold.
It is allowed to cool and solidify for sufficient time.
After that mold is opened and part is removed with help of ejectors.
Schematic of injection molding machine
 Equipment
Three major functional units are as following:
1) Injection Unit
2) Mold
3) Clamping Unit
 Injection Unit
Resin is introduced through a hopper.
Drying is also done in hopper due to hygroscopic nature of several resin.
Resin reaches the barrel through gravity from feed throat.
Mainly two systems are used for injection:
1. Reciprocating Screw
2. Ram injector
 Injection Unit

Three stages in reciprocating screw: 1) Feed 2) Compression 3) Metering

Typical L/D ratio for screw is 12:1 to 20:1.
Weight of resin can be injected is called shot size which typically ranges between 20 gm to 20 kg.
Thumb rule:
1. Reciprocating screw : Minimum Shot Size is 1/20 of total capacity.
2. Ram injector: Minimum Shot Size is 1/5 of total capacity.
 Mold
Mold is between two platens: Movable platen and stationary platen.
Mold have two sections: Movable plate and stationary plate
Most common mold material is Tool Steel. For very high heat transfer applications Beryllium-
copper alloy is used because of their high heat transfer coefficient.
Aluminium can also be used but in that case tolerance are not too tight.
A sprue puller pin is also provided for easy removal of gating system along with sprue.
Mold schematic diagram
 Clamping unit
Clamping unit hold the mold together while the resin is being injected and part is cooled.
The amount of clamping force required is related to injection pressure and projected area of
cavity.
Clamping force (F) = Injection Pressure (P) * Projected area of cavity (A)
Mainly two type of clamping systems are used:
1) Hydraulic system
2) Toggle system
 Critical Operational Parameters

The key parameters which are use to control injection molding are as following:
1. Temperature of melt
2. Temperature of the mold
- Temperature of mold and melt depends on following factors:
Shot size
Injection rate
Size of runner system
Part thickness
 Critical Operational Parameters
3. Pressure of injection and hold
Pressure should be high enough during injection to avoid short shots.
Pressure should be kept long enough to minimize shrinkage by adding more resin inside mold
cavity. Addition during shrinkage is called packing.
Limit of injection pressure depends on, capacity of machine to inject and capacity of parts to
sustain stresses under condition of over packing.
Two stage pressurization can also be used for some operations. High Pressure for injection and low
pressure for holding.
 Critical Operational Parameters
4. Various time cycles
Injection rate Optimal injection rate depends upon geometry of part, size of gate and melt
temperature.
Dwell Time Amount of time for which force or pressure is applied after the cavity is filled.
Freeze Time Interval after pressure is relieved and mold is opened. Time is often shortened by
cooling the mold.
Ejection(Dead) Time It includes time to open the mold, eject the part and close the mold. It
depends on ability to remove the part from mold cavity.
 Barrel Residence Time

It is the length of time for which the resin stays inside barrel.
If barrel residence time is too long, degradation can occur resulting in lower part performance.
If barrel residence time is not sufficient, resin might not reach the temperature which allow it to
flow properly.
A rough thumb rule that the amount of resin in each injection should be between and of total
shot size capacity.
 Injection molding problems

Temperature problems
Pressure problems
Contamination
Other various specific problems are as following:
Warpage of part, surface imperfections, flashing, shrinkage voids, short shots, ejectability, brittleness
of part