PLASTIC MATERIAL PROCESSES

Prof. Bharat M. Dogra

Department of Automobile Engineering
Indus Institute of Technology and Engineering
Indus University

Injection Molding Process

Injection molding is the one of the most
commonly used manufacturing process for the
plastic components.
It is used to manufacture thin walled plastic
parts for a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
In this process, the plastic material is melted
in the injection chamber and then injected
into the mold, where it cools and finally the
finished plastic part is ejected.

Working Principle of IM
In this process, the plastic materials usually in the
form of powder or pellets are fed from hopper
into the injection chamber.
The piston and cylinder arrangement is used to
forward the material inserted from the hopper in
to the injection chamber.
The plastic material is heated in the injection
chamber with the application of heating
elements.
The cooling system is also used to maintain the
temperature of the injection chamber.

Working Principle of IM
The molten plastic material is then injected into
the mold cavity through a nozzle.
The molded part is cooled quickly in the mold.
Thereafter, the final plastic part is removed from
the mold cavity.
The process cycle for injection molding is very
short, typically between 2 to 60 seconds.
The complete injection molding process is divided
into four stages: clamping, injection, cooling and
ejection.

Injection Molding Process

Clamping
Injection
Cooling

Ejection

Materials Used

Acetal
Acrylic,
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
Cellulose Acetate, Polyamide (Nylon)
Polycarbonate
Polyester
Polyether Sulphone (PS)
Polyetheretherketone (PEEK)
Polyetherimide,
Polyethylene
Polyphenylene Oxide
Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Elastomers

Applications
This process can be used to manufacture thin walled
plastic housing products which require many ribs and
bosses on the interior surfaces.
These housings are used in a variety of products
including household appliances, electronics, and
automotive dashboards.
Other common thin walled products include different
types of open containers, such as buckets.
It is also used to produce several daily use items such
as toothbrushes or small plastic toys, many medical
devices, including valves and syringes.

 Advantages
Higher production rate
Close tolerances on small intricate parts
Minimum wastage of material
Complex geometry can be easily produced
Disadvantages
Tooling cost higher
High setup cost
Large undercuts cant be formed

Rotational Molding
The rotational molding is a high temperature
and low pressure plastic forming process.
The powder is inserted into the closed split
mold and rotated in biaxial to produce a
hollow part.

Working Principle
The plastic material in the form of powder is inserted
into the mold.
The mold is heated in an oven and rotated biaxial until
the powder has melted.
The molten powder is adhered to the mold wall and
makes a thin layer.
The mold is opened and finished part is removed.
The mold is rotated at different speeds in order to
avoid the accumulation of molten powder.
The amount of time required to heat the powder at
molten temperature in to the oven is important.

Working Principle
If the oven is heated for long time, powder will
degrade and it will affect the mechanical properties.
If the mold is heated short time, the powder may not
be completely melted, resulting in large bubbles in the
powder.
The formed part must be cooled through the air so that
it solidifies slowly.
The formed part will shrink on cooling, and facilitating
easy removal of part.
The cooling rate must be kept within a certain range.
The water cooling should be avoided, because formed
part may shrink and warped after cooling.

Working Principle
A mold release agent should be used to
quickly remove the formed part.
Mold release can reduce cycle times and
defects of finished product.
Three different types of mold release agent
may be used i.e. sacrificial coating (silicones),
semi-permanent coating, (polysiloxane), and
permanent coating (polytetrafluoroethylene).

Process Parameters

The amount of powder

Heating temperature and time
Rotational speeds
Cooling rates

Material Used
Thermosets and thermoplastic material can be
used, for example:
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
Polypropylene
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC).

Applications
Additives for weather resistance, flame
retardation can be incorporated.
Products that can be manufactured include
storage tanks, bins and refuse containers,
airplane parts, road cones, footballs, helmets,
and rowing boats.

Advantages
Allows complex mold split lines.
Allows molded threads and mold-in inserts.
Allows a wide range of surface finishes (textured,
smooth, or polished).
Very little waste.
Low residual stresses
Tooling is less expensive
Suitable for both low-volume prototypes and
high-volume production runs

Disadvantages
Slow production speed. It usually takes about
one hour to complete the process
Lower precision

Blow Molding
Blow molding is a manufacturing process that
is used to produce hollow plastic parts by
inflating a heated plastic until it fills a mold
and formed the desired shape.

Working Principle
In this process, the thermoplastic in the form of small
pellets or granules is first heated above the melting
temperature and molded into a preform using injection
molding process.
These preforms are used to feed into the blow mold.
The preform is heated above the glass transition
temperature and formed into a hollow tube which is called
parison.
The parison is then clamped between two mold halves and
inflated by high air pressure until it conforms to the inner
shape of the mold.
The air pressure is required as 60 to 140 psi depending
upon the material used.

Working Principle
The preform is always stretched from the center of the part
during the process.
This is a single stage process, as both preform
manufacturing and bottle blowing are performed in the
same machine.
The formed part solidified as it is cooled inside the mold.
The mold halves are separated and the final product is
removed. Final part may be trimmed.
Generally, mold can be made of metal. Cycle time depends
upon the finished part wall thickness.
If the part wall thickness is 1.5 mm, the cycle time will be
40 to 50 seconds.

Process Parameters

Amount of plastic material

Melting temperature of plastic material
Air pressure required
Cooling time

Materials Used
Different types of thermoplastic material are
used, for example:
High Density Polyethylene(HDPE)
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Polyethylene Terephtalate (PET)
Polycarbonate (PC).

Applications
Different types of plastic products can be
manufactured by this process such as bottles
in different shape and size, jars, and
containers, ducting, fluid oil tanks, mugs, and
toys.

Advantages
Low tooling cost
Fast production rates
Ability to mold complex part with uniform
thickness
Little scrap generated
Large hollow shape can be produced
Produced parts can be recycle

Disadvantages
Limited to hollow parts
Thick parts cant be manufactured

Thermoforming
Thermoforming is a plastic manufacturing
process in which the thermoplastic sheets are
formed with the application of heat and
pressure in a mold.

Types of Thermoforming
Vacuum Forming
Pressure Forming
Matched die Forming

Vacumm Forming

Pressure Forming

Matched Die Forming

Materials Used
The different types of thermoplastic materials
which can be processed using thermoforming
process are:

Acrylic (PMMA)
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
Cellulose acetate
Low density polyethylene (LDPE)
High density polyethylene (HDPE)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polystyrene (PS)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

Applications
Thermoforming process is used for variety of
applications, for example, food packaging, automotive
parts, trays, building products and aircraft windscreens.
Thick gauge parts are used as cosmetic surfaces on
permanent structures such as trucks, medical
equipment, material handling equipment, electrical
and electronic equipment, spas and shower enclosures,
vehicle door and dash panels, refrigerator liners, utility
vehicle beds, and plastic pallets.
Thin gauge parts are primarily used to package or
contain a food item, disposable cups, containers, lids,
blisters and clamshells.

Advantages

Extremely adaptive to design requirement

Rapid prototype development
Low initial setup costs
Low production costs
Less thermal stresses than injection molding
and compression molding
Good dimensional stability

Disadvantages

Poor surface finish

Parts may have non-uniform wall thickness.
All parts need to be trimmed
Ribs and bosses cannot be molded easily
Limited number of materials can be used
Very thick plastic sheets cant be formed

Reinforced plastics
Reinforced plastics are a recent class
of composite materials in which the low
modulus and temperature limitations
of plastic is overcome by reinforcing it with
fibers of high modulus.

Reinforced plastics
Reinforced plastics find extensive use in many fields, such
as automobiles and corrosion-resistant equipment like fiberreinforced plastic (FRP) tanks, vessels, etc.
Reinforced plastics, also known as polymer-matrix composite
(PMC) and fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), consist of fibers (the
discontinuous or dispersed, phase) in a polymer matrix (the
composition phase). These fibers are strong and stiff and they
have high specific strength (strength-to-weight ratio) and
specific stiffness (stiffness-to-weight ratio). In addition,
reinforced-plastic structures have improved fatigue resistance,
greater toughness and higher creep resistance than similar
structures made from steel.

FRP
Fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) (also fiberreinforced polymer) is a composite material made
of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibers.
The fibers are usually glass, carbon, aramid,
or basalt.
Rarely, other fibers such as paper or wood or
asbestos have been used.
The polymer is usually an epoxy, vinyl
ester or polyester thermosetting plastic;
and phenol formaldehyde resins are still in use.

What is FRP?

Common Fiber Types

Different forms of fibers

Fiber reinforcement Forms

Manufacturing of Honey comb

Structure
Expansion process of
manufacture
Corrugation process of
manufacture

honeycomb
honeycomb

Ceramics materials
An organic compound which containing of
metals and one or more non-metals.
i.e. Al2O3 and pottery etc.
Types: Traditional ceramic
Advance ceramic
Glasses

Overview of Ceramics Shaping

Traditional ceramics are made from minerals occurring

in nature .
Products include pottery, porcelain, bricks, and cement

New ceramics are made from synthetically produced

raw materials.
Products include cutting tools, artificial bones, nuclear fuels,

and substrates for electronic circuits

The starting material for all of these items is powder

Overview of Ceramics Shaping

For traditional ceramics, the powders are usually mixed

with water to temporarily bind the particles together

and achieve the proper consistency for shaping
For new ceramics, substances other than water are used
as binders during shaping
After shaping, the green parts are fired (sintered),
whose function is the same as in powder metallurgy

Figure 17.1 - Usual steps in traditional ceramics processing: (1)

preparation of raw materials, (2) shaping, (3) drying, and (4) firing
Part (a) shows the work part during the sequence, while (b) shows the
condition of the powders

Preparation of the Raw Material

for Traditional Ceramics
Shaping processes for traditional ceramics require the

starting material to be a plastic paste

This paste is comprised of fine ceramic powders mixed

with water

The raw ceramic material usually occurs in nature as

rocky lumps, and reduction to powder is the purpose

of the preparation step in ceramics processing

Fabrication Techniques:
First of all raw material usually have to go through milling or
grinding operation in which particle size is reduced which is
done by crusher such as jaw or roll crusher.
The product of crusher is to screening to made powder
Product having desired shape of particle size.
The powdered product must be thoroughly mixed with water
to make plastic paste for creation of traditional ceramic
product.

Ingredients of Ceramic Paste for

Shaping

1. Clay (hydrous aluminum silicates) - usually the main

ingredient because of ideal forming characteristics

when mixed with water
2. Water creates clay-water mixture with suitable
plasticity for shaping
3. Non-plastic raw materials, such as alumina and silica
- reduce shrinkage in drying and firing but also reduce
plasticity of the mixture during forming
4. Other ingredients, such as fluxes that melt (vitrify)
during firing and promote sintering, and wetting
agents to improve mixing of ingredients

Shaping Processes
Slip casting
The clay-water mixture is a slurry
Plastic forming methods
The clay is plastic
Semi-dry pressing
The clay is moist but has low plasticity
Dry pressing
The clay is basically dry (less than 5% water) and has no
plasticity

Figure 17.4 - Four categories of shaping processes used for traditional ceramics,
compared to water content and pressure required to form the clay

Slip Casting
A suspension of ceramic powders in water, called a slip.
This slip is poured into a porous plaster of paris mold so
that water from the mix is absorbed into the plaster to
form a firm layer of clay at the mold surface
The slip composition is 25% to 40% water
Two principal variations:
Drain casting - the mold is inverted to drain excess slip

after a semi-solid layer has been formed, thus producing

a hollow product
Solid casting - to produce solid products, adequate time is
allowed for entire body to become firm.

Figure 17.5 - Sequence of steps in drain casting, a form of slip casting: (1)
slip is poured into mold cavity, (2) water is absorbed into plaster mold
to form a firm layer, (3) excess slip is poured out, and (4) part is
removed from mold and trimmed

Overview of Plastic Forming

The starting mixture must have a plastic consistency,

with 15% to 25% water

Variety of manual and mechanized methods
Manual methods use clay with more water because it is

more easily formed

More water means greater shrinkage in drying

Mechanized methods generally use a mixture with less

water so starting clay is stiffer

Plastic Forming Methods

Hand modeling (manual method)
Jiggering (mechanized method)
Plastic pressing (mechanized method)
Extrusion (mechanized method)

Jiggering
Similar to potter's wheel methods, but hand throwing is
replaced by mechanized techniques

Figure 17.6 - Sequence in jiggering: (1) wet clay slug is placed on a convex
mold; (2) batting; and (3) a jigger tool imparts the final product shape

Plastic Pressing
Forming process in which a plastic clay slug is pressed between
upper and lower molds contained in metal rings
Molds are made of porous material such as gypsum, so when
a vacuum is drawn on the backs of the mold halves, moisture
is removed from the clay
The mold sections are then opened, using positive air pressure
to prevent sticking of the part in the mold
Advantages: higher production rate than jiggering and not
limited to radially symmetric parts

Extrusion
Compression of clay through a die orifice to produce long
sections of uniform cross-section, which are then cut to
required piece length
Equipment utilizes a screw type action to assist in mixing
the clay and pushing it through die opening
Products: hollow bricks, shaped tiles, drain pipes, tubes,
and insulators
Also used to make the starting clay slugs for other ceramics
processing methods such as jiggering and plastic pressing

Semi-dry Pressing
Uses high pressure to overcome the clays low plasticity and force it into a die
cavity

Figure 17.7 - Semi-dry pressing: (1) depositing moist powder into die cavity,
(2) pressing, and (3) opening the die sections and ejection

Dry Pressing
Process sequence is similar to semi-dry pressing - the main
distinction is that the water content of the starting mix is
typically below 5%
Dies must be made of hardened tool steel or cemented
carbide to reduce wear since dry clay is very abrasive
No drying shrinkage occurs, so drying time is eliminated
and good dimensional accuracy is achieved in the final
product
Typical products: bathroom tile, electrical insulators,
refractory brick, and other simple geometries

Transfer Molding
Transfer molding process combines the
principle of compression and transfer of the
polymer charge.
In the transfer molding, polymer charge is
transferred from the transfer pot to the mold.
The mold is cooled and molded part is
ejected.

Process Parameters

Heating time
Melting temperature of the charge
Applied pressure
Cooling time

Materials
Generally, thermoset plastics (such as epoxy,
polyester, phenol-formaldehyde, vinyl ester,
silicone) are processed by transfer molding
process, but certain thermoplastic materials
can also be processed.

Applications
This process is widely used to encapsulate items
such as integrated circuits, plugs, connectors,
pins, coils, and studs.
It is suitable for molding with ceramic or metallic
inserts which are placed in the mold cavity.
When the heated polymer fills the mold it forms
bonding with the insert surface.
Transfer molding is also used for manufacturing
radio and television cabinets and car body shells.

Advantages

Fast setup time and lower setup costs

Low maintenance cost
Plastic parts with metal inserts can be made
Design flexibility
Dimensionally stable
Uniform thickness of parts
Large production rate

Disadvantage
Wastage of material
Production rate lower than injection molding
Air can be trapped in the mold

Ceramic Matrix Composites

The purpose of developing the ceramic matrix
composites (CMCs) is to improve the desirable
properties of ceramics with adding
reinforcements and limiting their inherent
weaknesses.

CMC
The development of CMCs imparts various
improvements over ceramics such as:
Degree of anisotropy on incorporation of fibers
Increased fracture toughness
Elongation to rupture up to 1%
Higher dynamic load capability

CMC
The increase in toughness in CMCs can be
explained by energy dissipation mechanism
where fiber matrix debonding, crack
deflection, fiber bridging and fiber pull-out are
the common failure mechanisms.

CMC
Some common examples of CMCs are:
Continuous SiC fiber reinforced glass-ceramics
Zirconia-toughened and SiC whisker toughened
alumina
Carbon-Carbon composites
Carbon-carbon composites are the hoariest ceramic
matrix composites developed by the aerospace industry
in the middle of the 1950s. These types of CMCs are
specially used for rocket motor casing, heat shields,
leading edges and thermal protection.

METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES

Conventional monolithic materials have limitations in
achieving good combination of strength, stiffness,
toughness and density.
To overcome these shortcomings and to meet the ever
increasing demand of modern day technology, composites
are most promising materials of recent interest.
Metal matrix composites (MMCs) possess significantly
improved properties including high specific strength;
specific modulus, damping capacity and good wear
resistance compared to unreinforced alloys.

CLASSIFICATION OF METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE

METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES (MMCs)

A metal matrix composite (MMC) is composite
material with at least two constituent parts, one
being a metal.
The other material may be a different metal or
another material, such as a ceramic or organic
compound.

When at least three materials are present, it is

called a hybrid composite.

COMPOSITION
MMCs are made by dispersing a reinforcing
material into a metal matrix. The
reinforcement surface can be coated to
prevent a chemical reaction with the matrix.

For example, carbon fibers are commonly

used in aluminum matrix to synthesize
composites show.i.ng low density and high
strength.

MATRIX
The matrix is the monolithic material into which
the reinforcement is embedded, and is
completely continuous.
This means that there is a path through the
matrix to any point in the material, unlike two
materials sandwiched together.
The matrix is usually a lighter metal such as
aluminum, magnesium, or titanium, and provides
a compliant support for the reinforcement.

REINFORCEMENT
The reinforcement material is embedded into
the matrix.
It is used to change physical properties such as
wear resistance, friction coefficient, or
thermal conductivity.

The reinforcement can be either continuous,

or discontinuous.

THE MOST IMPORTANT MMC SYSTEMS

Aluminum matrix
Continuous fibers: boron, silicon carbide, alumina, graphite
Discontinuous fibers: alumina, alumina-silica
Whiskers: silicon carbide
Particulates: silicon carbide, boron carbide
Magnesium matrix
Continuous fibers: graphite, alumina
Whiskers: silicon carbide
Particulates: titanium carbide
Copper matrix

THE ADVANTAGES OF MMCs

Higher temperature capability
Fire resistance
Higher transverse stiffness and strength
No moisture absorption
Higher electrical and thermal conductivities
Better radiation resistance
Fabric ability of whisker and particulate-reinforced
MMCs with conventional metalworking equipment.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF MMCs

Higher cost of some material systems .
Relatively immature technology .
Complex fabrication methods for fiber-reinforced
systems (except for casting).