From electronic cases to medical components, countless products are manufactured using plastic injection molding. It’s a relatively simple molding process that allows for the creation of plastic products in custom shapes and sizes. If this is your first time hearing about it, though, you might be wondering how plastic injection molding works. In this post, you’ll learn more about the basics of plastic injection molding, including how it works as well as its unique benefits when compared to other manufacturing processes.
What Is Plastic Injection Molding?
Plastic injection molding is a molding process that, as the name suggests, involves injecting heated plastic into a mold. The raw plastic material is first heated to lower its viscosity, after which it’s forced into a mold cavity via the application of pressure.
After being forced into the mold cavity, the plastic is allowed to cool. At room-temperature, of course, plastic is solid. Therefore, the liquid plastic used in plastic injection molding solidifies as it cools. As a liquid, the plastic will take the shape of the mold by expanding and filling the open space within the mold cavity. Once cooled, though, the plastic becomes solid, at which point the newly constructed plastic piece or component can be removed from the mold cavity.
Advantages of Plastic Injection Molding
Although there are other ways to manufacture plastic products, plastic injection molding has become one of the most popular methods thanks to its unique advantages. For starters, it can be used in high-volume applications. The molds are completely reusable, so companies can use them over and over to produce a large volume of products.
Plastic injection molding is also efficient since it produces little or no waste. The raw plastic is only injected into the mold cavity. Therefore, no plastic is wasted during this process.
Of course, plastic injection molding is capable of producing exceptionally strong products and components. After all, it uses plastic, which is particularly strong when solid. At the same time, plastic is relatively lightweight when compared to materials of similar strength. These properties make it an attractive choice of material.
The Bottom Line on Plastic Injection Molding
Plastic injection molding is a molding process that’s used to manufacture small products and components by forcing heated plastic into a mold. It offers many advantages, some of which include support for high-volume applications, efficiency and the ability to produce exceptionally strong products and components.
