What is Plastic Injection Molding?
Plastic injection molding is a cost effective plastic part manufacturing process designed for high-volume production in order to achieve a low cost per part. It’s the most common method for producing plastic parts today. The injection molding process starts by heating tiny granules of plastic until they liquefy. Molten plastic is then injected into a multi-part mold that is held together with many tons of pressure. Once the liquid has cooled to form a part, the mold is opened and the newly formed part ejected. The molding process is generally run at a high number of cycles to mass-produce the plastic parts. While the tooling required to create a single mold can be costly, the price per part is generally very low due to high volume production. Design of the plastic parts is inextricably tied to the nature of the production method; injecting molten plastic into split molds. Part design is impacted because the parts are produced with molds, which have unique nuances that must be considere
Plastic Injection Molding is a manufacturing technique for making parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials in production. Molten plastic is injected at high pressure into a mold, which is the inverse of the product’s shape. After a product is designed by an Industrial Designer or an Engineer, molds are made by a moldmaker (or toolmaker) from metal, usually either steel or aluminium, and precision-machined to form the features of the desired part. Injection molding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest component to entire body panels of cars. Injection molding is the most common method of production, with some commonly made items including bottle caps and outdoor furniture. Injection molding typically is capable of an IT Grade of about 9-14.
Plastic injection molding is the process by which you melt a plastic polymer and inject the molten plastic material into a cavity mold using high pressure to create a part or product once the plastic cools or sets. Plastic injection molds are typically made from steel or aluminum. Steel molds are of a higher quality and allow for longer production runs because of thier durability, while aluminum molds are usually for prototype production runs or lower quantity manufacturing runs.
