Injection molding cycle

The sequence of events during the injection mold of a plastic part is called the injection molding cycle. The
cycle begins when the mold closes, followed by the injection of the polymer into the mold cavity. Once the
cavity is filled, a holding pressure is maintained to compensate for material shrinkage. In the next step, the
screw turns, feeding the next shot to the front screw. This causes the screw to retract as the next shot is
prepared. Once the part is sufficiently cool, the mold opens and the part is ejected.

Time function

The time it takes to make a product using injection molding can be calculated by adding:
Twice the Mold Open/Close Time (2M)
+
Injection Time (T)
+
Cooling Time (C)
+
Ejection Time (E)

Where T is found by dividing:

Mold Size (S) / Flow Rate (F)

Total time = 2M + T + C + E
T = V/R

V = Mold cavity size (in3)

R = Material flow rate (in3/min)

The total cycle time can be calculated using tcycle = tclosing + tcooling + tejection

The closing and ejection times, can last from a fraction of a second to a few seconds, depending on the size
of the mold and machine. The cooling times, which dominate the process, depend on the maximum
thickness of the part.

Different types of injection molding processes:

sandwich molded toothbrush handle

Although most injection molding processes are covered by the conventional process description above, there
are several important molding variations including:
 • Co-injection (sandwich) molding
• Fusible (lost, soluble) core injection molding
• Gas-assisted injection molding
• In-mold decoration and in mold lamination
• Injection-compression molding
• Insert and outsert molding
• Lamellar (microlayer) injection molding
• Low-pressure injection molding
• Metal injection molding
• Microinjection molding
• Microcellular molding
• Multicomponent injection molding
• Multiple live-feed injection molding
• Powder injection molding
• Push-Pull injection molding
• Reaction injection molding
• Resin transfer molding
• Rheomolding
• Structural foam injection molding
• Structural reaction injection molding
• Thin-wall molding
• Vibration gas injection molding
• Water assisted injection molding
• Rubber injection
• Injection molding of liquid silicone rubber

Process troubleshooting
Optimal process settings are critical to influencing the cost, quality, and productivity of plastic injection
molding. The main trouble in injection molding is to have a box of good plastics parts contaminated with
scrap. For that reason process optimization studies have to be done and process monitoring has to take
place. To have a constant filling rate in the cavity the switch over from injection phase to the holding phase
can be made based on a cavity pressure level.
Having a stable production window the following issues are worth to investigate:
The Metering phase can be optimized by varying screw turns per minute and backpressure. Variation of
time needed to reload the screw gives an indication of the stability of this phase.
Injection speed can be optimized by pressure drop studies between pressure measured in the Nozzle
(alternatively hydraulic pressure) and pressure measured in the cavity. Melted material with a lower
viscosity has less pressure loss from nozzle to cavity than material with a higher viscosity. Varying the
Injection speed changes the sheer rate. Higher speed = higher sheer rate = lower viscosity. Pay attention
increasing the mold and melt temperature lowers the viscosity but lowers the sheer rate too.
Gate seal or gate freeze / sink mark / weight and geometry studies have the approach to prevent sink
marks and geometrical faults. Optimizing the high and duration of applied holding pressure based on cavity
pressure curves is the appropriate way to go. The thicker the part the longer the holding pressure applied.
The thinner the part the shorter the holding pressure applied.
Cooling time starts once the injection phase is finished. The hotter the melted plastics the longer the cooling
time the thicker the part produced the longer the cooling time.
Molding trial

When filling a new or unfamiliar mold for the first time, where shot size for that mold is unknown, a
technician/tool setter usually starts with a small shot weight and fills gradually until the mold is 95 to 99%
full. Once this is achieved a small amount of holding pressure will be applied and holding time increased
until gate freeze off (solidification time) has occurred. gate freeze off time can be determined by increasing
the hold time and then weighing the part when the weight of the part does not change we then know that the
gate has frozen and no more material is injected into the part. Gate solidification time is important as it
determines cycle time and the quality and consistency of the product, which itself is an important issue in
the economics of the production process. Holding pressure is increased until the parts are free of sinks and
part weight has been achieved. Once the parts are good enough and have passed any specific criteria, a
setting sheet is produced for people to follow in the future. The method to setup an unknown mold the first
time can be supported by installing cavity pressure sensors. Measuring the cavity pressure as a function of
time can provide a good indication of the filling profile of the cavity. Once the equipment is set to
successfully create the molded part, modern monitoring systems can save a reference curve of the cavity
pressure. With that it is possible to reproduce the same part quality on another molding machine within a
short setup time.