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1. To know and become familiar about the function of Injection Molding Machine to
produce plastic products.

2. To be able to find the defects of the plastic product when some factors are changing.

3. To get the real practice on polymers concept and theory.

 

An Injection molding machine, also known as an injection press, is a machine for

manufacturing plastic products by the injection molding process. It consists of two main parts, an
injection unit and a clamping unit.

Injection molding machines can fasten the molds in either a horizontal or vertical
position. The majority of machines are horizontally oriented, but vertical machines are used in
some niche applications such as insert molding, allowing the machine to take advantage of
gravity. There are many ways to fasten the tools to the platens, the most common being manual
clamps ,both halves are bolted to the platens. However, hydraulic clamps (chocks are used to
hold the tool in place) and magnetic clamps are also used. The magnetic and hydraulic clamps
are used where fast tool changes are required.

Injection Molding is a process in which a polymer is heated to a highly plastic state and
force to flow under high pressure into a mold cavity, where it solidifies. The molded part, called
a molding, is the removed from the cavity. The process produces discrete components that are
almost net shape. The production cycle time is typically in range of 10 to 30 sec, although cycles
of 1 min or longer are not uncommon. Also, the mold may contain more than one cavity, so that
multiple moldings are produced each cycle.
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V Injection Molding Machine

V 0ranulated or powdered thermoplastics

 

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0ranulated or powdered thermoplastic plastic is fed from a hopper into the Injection Molding
machine.

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The Injection Molding machine consists of a hollow steel barrel, containing a rotating screw. The
screw carries the plastic along the barrel to the mold. Heaters surround the barrel melt the plastic
as it travels along the barrel.V V

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The screw is forced back as the melted plastic collects at the end of the barrel. Once enough
plastic has collected a hydraulic ram pushes the screw forward injecting the plastic through a
sprue into a mold cavity. The mould is warmed before injecting and the plastic is injected
quickly to prevent it from hardening before the mould is fullOVV

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2ressure is maintained for a short time (dwell time) to prevent the material creeping back during
setting (hardening). This prevents shrinkage and hollows, therefore giving a better quality
product. The molding is left to cool before removing (ejected) from the mould. The molding
takes on the shape of the mould cavity.
V

Table 1: Data for injection molding process

2

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2olymers have high thermal expansion coefficients and significant shrinkage occurs
during cooling of the plastic in the mold. ome thermoplastics undergo volumetric contractions
of around 10% after injection into the mold. ontraction of crystalline plastics tends to be greater
than for amorphous polymers. hrinkage is usually expressed as the reduction in linear size that
occurs during cooling to room temperature from the molding temperature for the given polymer.
Appropriate units are therefore mm/mm of the dimension under consideration. Typical values for
selected polymers are given in table 13.1.

 


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The alternative unit involves the use of separate barrels for plasticizing and injecting the
polymer. This type is called a screw-preplasticizer machine or two-stage machine. 2lastic pellets
are fed from a hopper into the first stage, which uses a screw to drive the polymer forward and
melt it. This barrel feeds a second barrel, which uses a plunger to inject the melt into the mold.
Older machines used one plunger-driven barrel to melt and inject the plastic. These machines are
referred to as plunger-type injection molding machines.

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Injection molding is a complicated process, and many things can go wrong. Here are some of the
common defects in injection molded parts:

V ^   : as in casting, a short shot is a molding that has solidified before completely
filling the cavity. The defect can be corrected by increasing temperature and or pressure.
The defect may also result from use of a machine with insufficient shot capacity, in
which case a larger machine is needed.
V £  : Flashing occurs when the polymer melt is squeezed into the parting surface
between mold plates. It can also occur around ejection pins. The defect is usually caused
by
aV vents and clearances in the mold that are too large
aV injection pressure too high compared to clamping force
aV melt temperature too high
aV excessive shot size
V ^ : these are defects usually related to thick molded sections. A sink
mark occurs when the outer surface on the molding solidifies, but contradiction of the
internal material causes the skin to be depressed below its intended profile. A void is
caused by the same basic phenomenon, however, the surface materials retains its form
and the shrinkage manifest itself as an internal void due to high tensile stresses on the
still-molten polymer. These defects can be addressed by increasing the packing pressure
following injection. A better solution is to design the part to have uniform section
thicknesses and to use thinner sections.
V u : weld line occur when polymer melt flows around a core or other convex
detail in the mold cavity and meets from opposite directions. The boundary thus formed
is called a weld line and it may have mechanical properties that are inferior to those in the
 rest of the part. Higher melt temperatures, higher injection pressures, alternative gating
locations on the part and better venting are ways of dealing with this defect.
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aV Injection temperature too high
aV Too much moisture in material
aV Non-uniform cooling rate
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aV ooling time too short
aV
jection force too high

V ^

1)V The demonstrator should demonstrate or show the student on how to work on the
Injection Molding Machine rather than tell the theories. If the machine do not function
well, the other alternative ways is showing the video about the experiment to the students.
In this ways, the students are able to understand better and easy to remember the
procedures as well as the objectives of this experiment well achieved.

 

Alhamdulillah, praise to Almighty Allah, we successfully finished the experiment. In

addition, we gain another knowledge from this experiment on how to produce plastics using the
Injection Molding Machine. Although the machine do not function, the demonstrator try very
well to tell the details about the machines, the procedures and stages on how this experiment
runs.

In this experiment, we cannot tell the error or precautions to take because we do not run
the experiment. But, as the theories, all the defects that might be occurs already discuss in the
discussion section. I hope in the future, this machine can be repaired so that the next group
student can run the machine and this experiment can be done perfectly. InsyaAllah.

 

1)V Fundamentals of modern manufacturing, materials, processes and systems,3rd edition,

Mikell 2 0rover, pages 275- 283.
2)V Manufacturing
ngineering Lab 2 laboratory manual, MM
2122 , department of
Manufacturing and Materials
ngineering.