The Different Types of Injection Molding Technology

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What started as a simple design for production convenience rapidly evolved into various methods and technologies. Nowadays, several different injection molding methods are available for a business, and each serves the fundamental purpose of achieving quality parts manufacturing. Let’s look at the most common technology used and see which injection molding form is right for your respective industry.

Thin Wall Molding

The technology involved in thin wall molding helps create plastic parts containing thin walls. This method of injection molding is suitable in applications for tubes, vessels, or apparatuses.

The engineers who work with this intricate form of plastic injection molding must consider all contributing factors from mold design, product design, and overall process details. In many cases, custom injection molding is used to tailor the process to specific product requirements, ensuring that the final design meets both quality standards and unique consumer needs. The products must contain a certain level of geometrical perfection to pass quality control and meet consumer demands.

Metal Injection Molding

Plastic injection molding technology isn’t the only method of injecting molding available. Metal is another prominent material used to produce goods and parts and has many industrial applications.

It is worth noting that this technology is significantly more expensive than plastic, but it’s essential nonetheless. Metal injection molding plays a crucial role in crafting shields in the mobile device industry to protect the device from microwaves or radio waves that can impair its functionality.

3D Printing

3D printing is a relatively common and significant molding technique today. This technology contributes to prototyping various parts across industries and improves the level of design. The everyday use of 3D printing is reverse engineering parts.

Through 3D printing, manufacturers and engineers can review models before total production begins, perform testing, and examine renderings in detail using a CAD system. This technology can produce plastic or metal molded parts, making it applicable worldwide.

Liquid Silicone Injection Molding

The vast majority of plastic injection molding falls under the thermoset category. In this process, a cold material is injected into an exceedingly hot mold, resulting in the desired part.

Industries such as auto parts and medical device manufacturers use a thermoplastic injection molding process because this method can withstand high-temperature values. The engineers must use liquid silicone in the molds for a thermoplastic method. Medical devices and instruments use an over-molding method to ensure sanitization further.

There are many unique methods in parts manufacturing, each serving specific purposes for the consumer. Regardless of the technology your business needs, the injection molding process has come a long way from the beginning days of molding buttons and combs. To ensure your industry maintains cost-effectiveness and quality production, consider one of these technologies for parts manufacturing.

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