What’s Foam Injection Molding and Where’s It Used?
Source's Link :- https://uberant.com/article/1829630-whats-foam-injection-molding-and-wheres-it-used/
Because of some
great discoveries in the recent time, we now have an array of alternatives when
it comes to choosing a method for the manufacturing of plastic products. That’s
the reason why it sometimes gets difficult for manufacturers to choose the most
suitable alternative from all available production methods. Today, we’ll
discuss what is Foam Injection Molding, and we’ll also have a look at
such situations when it can be the right alternative for the production of
plastic products. Without wasting any more time, let’s first try to understand
what Foam Injection Molding actually is.
Do you know
about traditional injection molding methods used for the production of plastic
products? Foam Injection Molding is almost similar to those methods, but with a
couple of changes. In structural foam injection molding, an inert gas is also
injected into the mold along with melted polymer, and low-pressure is used for
the injection process. Because of these two differences, end products built
through Foam Injection Molding have some unique attributes compared to plastic
parts built through traditional injection molding methods.
Difference
Between Products Built Through Foam Molding and Traditional Injection Molding
The inert gas
acts as a chemical blowing agent, which expands when injected into the mold
along with the melted polymer. As a result, final products don’t have a solid
core, but it has a foam-like structure. This is why plastic parts built through
foam injection molding have a very high strength-to-weight ratio because the
core of the final products has a foam-like structure while the outer walls are
thick and solid. So basically, foam injection molding is used for the
production of such products which need to be strong and durable, but not too
heavy.
Key
Characteristics of Foam Injection Molding
1. Just because end
products are light-weighted, it doesn’t mean they are not strong. Thick and
solid outer walls give decent strength and durability to the final products.
2. Because of the
low-pressure used for injection molding, it’s possible to put complex designs
on the final products without any error. You get all these advantages while
keeping the production cost in control. Thus, it is the best choice if you ever
require to build plastic parts with a higher strength-to-weight ratio.
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