INJECTION MOULDING

Points Covered- 1. Basics Of Injection Molding.

2. Moulding Cycle.
3. Feeding of Material.
4. Plasticization.
5. Types Of Machines.
6. Analysis Of Flow Through Screw.
7. Multilayer Injection Molding System.

1.Basics Of Injection Molding:-

The basic concept of injection molding is the ability of a thermoplastic
material to be softened by heating, formed under pressure, and hardened by
cooling. In a reciprocating screw injection molding machine (fig. 5) , granular
material (the plastic resin) is fed from the hopper (a feeding device) into one end of
the cylinder (the melting device). It is heated and melted (plasticized or
plasticated), and it is forced out the other end of the cylinder (while still melted)
through a nozzle (injection) into a relatively cool mold (cooling), held closed by
the clamping mechanism. The melt cools and hardens (cures) until it is fully set up.
Then the mold opens, ejecting the molded part (ejection).
Thus, the elements of injection molding are:

1.The way in which the melt is plasticized and forced into the mold (the injection
unit).

2. The system for opening and closing the mold and holding it closed with a force
(the clamping unit).

3. The type of machine controls.

4. The injection mold, which forms the part and acts as a heat exchanger
Fig.1. Basic elements of injection molding The basic cycle.

2.Moulding Cycle:-
Cycle of a Hydraulic Clamp/Reciprocating
Screw Machine. The cycle of a reciprocating screw molding machine may be
summarized as follows:
1. Oil is sent behind the clamp ram, closing the mold. Pressure builds up to
develop enough force to keep the mold closed while the injection process occurs.
2. Previously plasticized material in front of the reciprocating screw is forced into
the mold by the hydraulic injection cylinder(s).

3. Pressure is maintained on the material to mold a part free of sink marks, flow
marks, welds, and other defects.

4. At the end of this period, the screw starts to turn, plasticizing material for the
next shot. After melting, the material is de- compressed to prevent drooling from
the nozzle.

5. While this is occurring, the plastic is cooling in the mold and solidifying to a
point where it can be successfully ejected. This cooling is accomplished by
circulating a cooling medium, usually water, through drilled holes or channels in
cavities, cores, and the mold base.

6. Oil is sent to the return port of the clamping ram separating the mold halves.

7. As the moving platen returns, the knock- out or ejection mechanism is activated,
removing the pieces from the mold
3.Feeding Of Materials:-
When a plastic material begins its journey through the injection molding
process, the first thing that is considered is how the material is delivered and stored
until it is used. The next step is to determine how the material will flow to the
individual machines for molding, and finally, what process is needed to prepare the
material so that it can be molded. Other side processes, such as color and additive
feeding, also need to be considered if these apply. However, in this section,
concentration is placed on the basic factors in getting the material to the hopper. In
this section we focus on the following issues for material feed. The first is that of
drying the material, a process used in preparing most thermoplastic materials for
injection molding. We then explain why materials need to be dried and what needs
to be considered. Then the hopper and the concept of bulk density are reviewed,
how this relates to sizing storage space for materials, the elements of material mass
flow, and the time and conditions involved in drying the material.

Drying Material :-

The chemical structure of a particular polymer determines whether it

will absorb moisture. Due to their non-polar chemical structures, a number of
polymers (e.g., polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene) are non-hygroscopic
and do not absorb moisture. However, due to their more complex chemistry,
materials such as polycarbonate, polycarbonate blends, acrylonitrile–butadiene–
styrene (ABS) terpolymers, polyesters, thermoplastic polyurethanes, and nylon are
hygroscopic andabsorb moisture. As shown in Figure 2, the moisture can either be
external (surface of the pellet) or internal (inside the pellet). A problem arises
when the polymer processing temperatures, which can exceed 400°F (204°C), boil
off the water [at212°F (100°C)] in the polymer.
The effect that water has on a molded part is that imperfections will appear
on the surface because the bubbles generated from the boiling of the moisture get
trapped in the polymer, cool, and solidify in the mold. This creates splay marks or
silver streaks. In some cases, as in polycarbonate and nylon-based materials,
polymer degradation can occur as the water reacts with the polymer to reduce its
physical and mechanical properties. Another effect results in reversing the
polymer-forming reaction in the polymer, leading to chain scission or
depolymerization. These types of conditions can make a polymer difficult, if not
impossible, to process.
FIGURE 2- External and internal moisture.

The critical factor in drying plastics materials is to remove moisture not only from
the pellet’s exterior surface but from the pellet’s interior as well. Pellets reach a
moisture balance point with the surrounding environment. This is determined by
the resin type, the ambient relative humidity, and time. For some resins (e.g., ABS)
this is usually 0.3%, whereas for nylons this is typically 0.15%. Moisture can be
driven out of the pellets under four essential conditions: (1) heat, (2) airflow, (3)
dry air, and (4) time for drying effects to take place. Heat drives the moisture to the
surface of the pellet. The dry air acts as a recipient or “sponge” to receive the
moisture from the pellet surface. The dry airflow supplies the transportation to
remove the moist air, which goes to the desiccant dryer for collection and
reconditioning. All of these steps are important in drying plastic materials properly.

The Hopper
The hopper is the section of the injection molding machine that stores
material just before it enters the barrel of an injection molding machine. The
hopper also has a holding area for the material as it is fed from its bulk storage
(gaylords, railcars, etc.) and awaits any preconditioning of the material that may be
needed, such as drying. Hopper size is a critical element in determining how to
make the injection molding process efficient. The two concepts discussed here,
material mass flow and bulk density, provide information on how to choose the
correct-size hopper and what requirements are needed to store material prior its
being sent to the hopper.
Bulk Density
Bulk density is an important material property as it relates to the injection molding
process. bulk density is defined as the weight per unit volume of a bulk material,
including the air voids. Material density is defined as the weight of the unit volume
of the plastic, excluding air voids.

4.Preplasticization:-
The first revolution in injection molding machine design overcame the
obvious disadvantages of the single-stage plunger by putting one plunger on top of
the other, separating the two functions. The top plunger plasticizes the material,
which is pushed in front of the piston of the second cylinder, forcing it back a
predetermined distance that corresponds to the proper amount of hot melted
material forthe next shot. The second cylinder then shoots the material into the
mold (Figs. 3 and 5). This approach is called pre plasticizing. The second type of
pre plasticizing is accomplished in the reciprocating screw itself, where the
shooting pot is the chamber that develops in front of the retracting screw. Pre
plasticizing offers a number of significant advantages:

1. The melt is more homogeneous because it mixes as it passes through the small
opening connecting the two chambers.

2. There is direct pressure on the material by the injection plunger.

3. Faster injection is possible.

4. Higher injection pressures and better injection control are possible.

5. Better shot weight control is possible.

6. The weight of a single shot can easily be increased by making the stroke of the
shooting cylinder longer, or its diameter larger. This is not true in the reciprocating
screw type of pre plasticizing.

7. All the material passes over the full length of the screw.

The two-stage plunger-plunger machine (Fig. 4) is obsolete, having been replaced

by the two-stage screw-pot (Fig. 5) because of the superior plasticizing ability of
the screw
5.Types Of Injection Moulding:-
Types of injection moulding machines according to injection end are as
follows,
1. The straight plunger machine (Fig.3).

2. The two-stage plunger machine where one plunger plasticizes and the other
shoots. (Fig.5-4).
3. The reciprocating screw (Fig. 5).
4. The two-stage screw-plunger machine where the screw plasticizes material,
which is forced into the shooting cylinder (Fig.6).

Plunger-Type Injection Cylinder.

The original injection molding machine was an adaptation of one used

for molding rubber. Its method of plasticizing was a plunger (Fig.3), now obsolete
except for molding variegated patterns such as “tortoise shell” cutlery parts and
cosmetic containers. Material from the hopper is measured volumetrically and fed
into a chute to fall in front of the plunger. The injection plunger moves forward
and forces the cold granules into the plasticizing chamber over the torpedo and out
through the nozzle tip into the mold. The heat is supplied by resistance heaters on
the outside of the barrel, and the material is melted by conduction of the heat from
the heating bands through the cylinder wall into the plastic. Because there is
relatively little convection in a plunger machine and the plastic has good insulating
(or poor thermal conduction) properties, there is little if any mixing, and the
temperature of the material at the wall of the torpedo is significantly higher than
that of the material in the center. This condition makes for
poor temperature homogeneity, which will adversely affect the molded part.
Pressure is transmitted from the injection plunger through the cold
granules and melted material into the mold. There is considerable pressure loss,
which averages about 40% but can be as high as 80 % . The smaller the clearance
is between the plunger and the cylinder wall, the higher the resistance to flow and
the greater the pressure loss. Increasing this distance would decrease the pressure
loss and increase the capacity of the cylinder, but it would lead to a progressively
deteriorating temperature variation in the melt because of the poor conduction of
the plastic material. Therefore, the straight plunger is limited in its capacity, as
these two design requirements oppose each other. Straight plunger machines larger
than 16 oz. in capacity were rarely found. The amount of heat that the plastic
Fig. 3. Schematic drawing of an injection end of a single-stage plunger machine

Fig. 4. Schematic drawing of a two-stage plunger unit.

receives in a given plunger-type cylinder is also a function of the residence time.
Therefore, uneven cycles change the temperature of the melt and prevent good
moldings. When the machine is off cycle, even for a short period of time, it is
necessary to purge out the overheated material and continue with the molding. One
of the principal advantages of the screw plasticizer is that its heating is done by
shearing action caused by the screw rotation. This mechanical working puts the
heat directly into the material. When the screw is not turning, the only heat the
material gets is from the barrel heaters, which is a comparatively small amount.
The pressure in a plunger system is transmitted inconsistently through cold
granules, making it difficult to control the injection pressure in the mold. This
increases the variations in the amount of material in the mold and causes variations
in its physical properties.

Reciprocating Screw Injection End.

Figure 5.shows a schematic drawing of the injection end of a reciprocating
screw machine. The extruder screw, which is contained in the barrel, is turned
most often by a hydraulic motor (as contrasted to an electric motor attached to a
gear system).

Fig. 5. Schematic drawing of an in-line reciprocating screw unit

As the screw turns, it picks up material from the hopper. As it progresses down the
screw, the resin is compacted, degassed, melted, and pumped past the non return
flow valve assembly at the injection side of the screw. This, in essence, is a check
valve, which allows material to flow only from the back of the screw for- ward. As
the material is pumped in front of the screw, it forces back the screw, hydraulic
mo- tor, and screw drive system. In so doing, it also moves the piston and rod of
the hydraulic cylinder(s) used for injection. Oil from behind the piston(s) goes into
a tank through a variable resistance valve, called the back pressure valve.
Increasing this resistance requires higher pressures from the pumping section of the
screw, and results in better mixing, a slower cycle, and greater energy
consumption. The screw will continue to turn, forcing the camage back until a
predetermined location is reached. Then the rotation is stopped, and an exact
amount of melted material is in front of the screw and will be injected into the
mold at the appropriate time in the cycle. This is accomplished by using the
hydraulic injection cylinder(s). It is evident that the first particles of material from
the hopper will pass over the full flight of the screw. As the screw moves toward
the right, succeeding particles will travel through a diminishing length of the
screw. This action of the reciprocating screw limits the amount of material that can
be plasticized by any given screw. It also results in a less homogeneous melt
compared to a two-stage screw-pot machine, though this is not important for most
applications.

Fig.6.Schematic drawing of injection end of a two-stage screw-plunger machine

These limitations and others may be over- come by using a two-stage screw-
plunger machine, shown in Fig.6. Here, the material goes over the full length of the
screw through a rotary valve into the injection or shooting chamber. Here, too, the
injection plunger is forced back until it reaches a predetermined point, at which
time the screw stops. The rotary shutoff valve is rotated so that when the injection
plunger advances, the material is injected into the mold.
The main advantages of a two-stage screw are that the material passes over the
whole length of the screw, and it receives additional mixing time as it goes through
the rotary valve; also, pushing directly on the material with a plunger, rather than
with a check valve at the end of the screw, gives significantly better shot control.

6.Analysis Of Flow Through Screw:-

To be conveyed forward, the plastic must ad- here more to the barrel than
to the screw. If the coefficients of friction between the plastic and the screw and
between the plastic and the barrel were identical, there would be no flow of
material it would just rotate as a plug within the flight of the screw. Because the
polymer molecule is anchored more to the side of the barrel than to the screw, the
polymer molecules slide over one another. This behavior is called a shearing
action. In effect, molecular forces are being broken and turned into heat; this is
what is meant when one refers to converting the mechanical action of the screw
into heat.
The solid pellets are picked up from the hop- per and moved only in the
forward direction in a helical path (Fig. 7, part A). They touch the barrel, forming a
thin film of melted plastic on the barrel surface (Fig.8). This melting is due in part
to conduction from the heater bands. The relative motion of the barrel and the
screw drags this melt, which is picked up by the leading edge of the advancing
flight of the screw. It flushes the polymer down in front of it forming a pool, which
circulates. Heat enters the plastic by a shearing action (rubbing of molecules of
plastic over each other) whose energy is derived from the turning of the screw.
Unmelted material is drawn into the melted area in increasing amounts down the
flights of the barrel. The melting is complete at the point where the solid bed of
unmelted plastic is completely melted, which is the end of the compression or
melting section.
Figure 8, part B shows a simplified view of the flight of a particle in a screw.
Fig. 7. Schematic drawing of melting of plastic in a screw. Area A-material melted by
conduction; Area B-material melted by shearing; Area C-partially melted material; Area D-
unmelted material (solid bed).

Fig. 8. Flow of plastic in a screw. A-open discharge. B-blocked flow.

If there is little or no resistance at all, as happens when the screw is

retracted, a particle of material will move as shown in part A. It moves with a
circulatory motion from flight to flight. Addition- ally, it goes forward along the
axial direction of the barrel toward the nozzle. At no time does a particle ever flow
rearward. If the screw could not retract as it rotated, the particles would circulate
within the flight. Obviously, by regulating the amount of resistance to the return of
the screw (by the back pressure control valve), the amount of mixing in the melt
can be controlled. This is an important feature in reciprocating screw molding. The
higher the back pressure is, the more homogeneous the melt and the better the
color and additive dispersion. Higher back pressure often eliminates warpage and
shrinkage problems.
7.Multilayer injection Moulding Machine:-
Multi-shot moulding has been around for over thirty years and is used as
a method of placing materials either side by side (abutting), one on top of the other
with an overlap, or superimposition of one shot onto another. To do this special
tooling and machinery is required. Common examples of such mouldings are
keypads with the numbers made of one colour and the letters moulded in using
another colour, the advantage of this technique being the elimination of the
printing processes which would otherwise be required to mark the keypads. Multi-
colour automotive tail-lights are also made by this technology. Another common
application is to combine hard and soft materials to produce a ‘soft feel’
component. Handles such as on doors or toothbrushes are common products
benefiting from this technology.
Multi-shot moulding techniques are well established, their growth
being pushed by the development of thermoplastics elastomer (TPE) materials,
enabling rigid and flexible material combinations to be employed. These can also
be seen in a variety of applications from automotive seals to bras. A number of
moulding methods can be employed to produce multi-shot mouldings but those
produced from the same material in multi-colour multi-shot enjoy the highest
market share. Multi-shot techniques produce not only multi-colour but also multi-
material mouldings. The most common methods are the use of tool rotation, the
core back technique and transfer tools. Transfer tools can be used to move shots
from one cavity to another, this technique is very similar to over-moulding. These
processes will be described in detail. Some applications for multi-shot moulding
are listed in table given below,
Table - Applications for multi-shot mouldings
Machine Technology
Multi shot processes, as the name implies, require multiple shots of
material to make a single component. For each one of these materials an
injection unit is required. To mould these multiple shots also requires special
tooling and equipment. Multi-shot capability can be built either into the injection
tool or controlled by the injection moulding machine. To enable multi-shot,
multiple injection units can be arranged to feed machines in a number of ways as
the next section will explain.

Injection Unit Configurations

Multiple injection units can be arranged around the clamping units
as combinations of horizontal and vertical units in piggy backed or right
angled configurations. These are shown in Fig 8.
Using a vertical injection unit can save space and hence is the most used
position for multi-shot moulding at the split-line. For mould changing, the units
can be slid towards the nozzle. Where the vertical position cannotbe used, perhaps
because of lack of factory height, the second unit can be positioned at right
angles. The position of the unit can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically,
although the latter is available as an option rather than as standard, by some
manufacturers. Again the vertical units can be moved to the nozzle side to
change the mould.
With the piggyback arrangement, units can be angled above the main
unit. This method saves floor spacelike the vertical method but requires less
ceiling height. The additional unit can be moved in two ways: attached to the
main unit but with the nozzles thermally separated or with a separate
cylinder which moves separately from the main cylinder.

Plastication Design
In terms of the injection screw configurations within the injection units,
these tend to have become standardized at 22D. This refers to the ratio of screw
length (L) to its diameter (D), the L/D ratio. For faster production and high quality
mixing this is often increased up to 26D. Specialised screws for hygroscopic
materials, which enable venting, screws for increased mixing of materials, and
configurations for temperature sensitive materials such as PVC, are all commonly
available from suppliers.
Machine Type
When robots are required to control insertion and removal of parts, machinery
design can be an issue. The use of tie-barless machines as opposed to the
conventional tie bar models is a contentious subject with advantages and
disadvantages inherent in both machinery designs. However, when it comes to
multi- material technology, tie-barless machines can offer distinct advantages in
the ease of utilisation of robots and the larger mould mounting area these machines
offer. Often, this can mean a smaller capital outlay on machinery as a smaller
machine may be purchased.

Figuer 9:- Possible arrangements of injection units: (a) vertical and piggy back
(side view) and (b) parallel and right-angled (overhead view)