Introduction

Injection moulding is one of the main method used in plastic processing. It can process and
produces large numbers of parts quickly with high precision and quality. Plastic injection moulding
is widely used to manufactures product such as automotive parts, storage containers, toys and
many more. Different types of plastic commonly used in injection moulding are Acrylonitrile
butadiene styrene (ABS), Polypropylene (PP), Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE).

Material Properties

Raw plastic materials come in form pellets and granule with different size, shape and
colour. The total amount of material used depends on the design and shape of the plastic part.
Additives is use to ease processing, improve product appearances, biodegradability and many
more. The material properties are important in order to determine what material that can be used
to produce the product. It is also important because it is used to set the injection moulding machine
parameter in order to get a perfect part and avoid any defects and flaws.

Polymer Melt Mould Linear Mould Tensile Melt flow Injection

Temperature, Temperature Shrinkage Strength (g/10min) Pressure
Tm (°C) Range Tw (°C) (%) (MPa) (MPa)

TPE 193– 235 24 °C – 66 °C 0.4% to 1.5% 14.0 0.010 to 13 35 to 150

Table 1: Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE)

Injection Moulding Processing

Injection moulding machine consists of three sections; injection unit, mould assembly and
clamping unit. Raw plastic material is placed inside hopper before transferred into the injection
unit. Function of the hopper is to dry the raw material according to its temperature. The injection
unit consists of a barrel and injection screw. Raw plastic material for the part is fed into a heated
barrel, mixed (using a helical shaped screw), and will injected into a mould cavity, where it cools
and hardens to the configuration of the cavity.
 In order for the molten plastic to flow into the mould cavities, several channels are integrated
into the mould design. First, the molten plastic enters the mould through the sprue. Additional
channels, called runners, carry the molten plastic from the sprue to all of the cavities that must be
filled. At the end of each runner, the molten plastic enters the cavity through a gate which directs
the flow. The injection moulding machine that have been use is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Injection moulding machine

Defects and Countermeasure

Defects in moulded plastics are caused by some factors of mould design, moulding
parameters and also the product design. The mechanical properties of moulded crystalline plastic
materials are dependent on solidification rate and cooling process. Injection moulding parameters
are designed to control temperature distribution and heat transfer capacity inside the mould.
Inappropriate cavity surfaces temperatures cause rejection due to visual imperfections.
Inappropriate settings may cause defects such as flashing, short of mould, shrinkage, weld lines,
burn marks and etc.

A short shot is a moulded part that is incomplete because insufficient material was injected
into the mould. In some cases, short shots are intentionally produced to determine or visualize the
filling pattern. The causes are because of the low melt of wall temperature, insufficient machine
injection pressure and also machine defects such as empty hopper. This problem can be prevented
by increase the injection pressure, reduce the flow length and also alter the mould design.

Flash, also known as flashing is excess material attached to a moulded, forged, or cast product.
This happen when a thin layer of plastic that flows outside the cavity where the two halves of the
injection mould meet. To counter this problem, deflashing need to be performed to remove the
flash by cutting, grinding also change the holding pressure and flow to get the good result of
moulding. Figure 2 shows the example of flashing from the plastic lab.

Figure 2: Flashing
Activities

1. Dry Temperature
No need to dry
2. Screw Barrel Temperature
193°C – 235 °C
3. Mould Temperature
24 °C – 66 °C
4. Clamping Force (189kN maximum)
Area of product x specific closing force x number of product
𝜋(6.2𝑐𝑚)2 x 3 x 2 = 181 kN
5. Shot Capacity (18cm3 maximum = 65mm screw movement maximum)
45mm
6. Injection Pressure. P1 (195MPa at 99%)
10%
7. Injection Flow, V1 (51cm3 at 99%)
8%
8. Cushion
8
9. Holding Pressure
P2 – P3 = 5%
10. Holding Flow
V2 –V3= 4%