costs required to use this process are typically very high.

Various equipment, including melt reservoirs, melt-out

baths, washing facilities, robotic machinery, melt recircu-
lation sys-tems, not to mention very complex molds for
both the metal cores and plastic part, is required. Floor
space requirements for core manufacture are also typically
high and add to the overall cost.

Essentially, a complex metal alloy core needs to be manu-

factured for every part. The physical weight of these cores
presents handling problems. Cycle times are long when
considering the total cycle from core manufacture to finished,
cleaned plastic part. Another problem is core shift in the injection Figure 2. Four-Shell Concept.
molding tool. The soft metal alloy used for the cores generally
is not very stiff. Therefore, if the cores are not precisely Advantages
supported in the mold, normal injection pressure can cause core Compared to lost-core, the multishell process shows con-
shift and result in "pinched" or thinned walls. The result is siderable cost savings. Clearly, the investment costs are
an unacceptable part and very expensive mold design changes. much lower. Some cost estimates have shown the multi-
shell process to be nearly 50% less expensive than equiv-
alent designs using lost-core. The multishell method pro-
Tin/Bismuth Alloy
vides a substantial weight reduction over metal processes.
Finished
Part Parts integration has been another factor that has steered
Melting
Reservoir
part manufacturers toward plastics in hollow-body appli-
Molding of Secondary
Metal Cores Operations cations. The multishell approach allows for the integration
of flanges, tube inlets, con-nection bosses, cable supports,
Assembly of Part etc., without overly complicating a mold. Complex fea-
Individual Cores Washing
tures can be inte-grated into one component or split
Placement of Cores Core
between several. From the tool design perspective, this
in Injection Mold Melt-Out
makes for sev-eral simpler tools rather than two or more
Plastic Molding very com-plex and expensive tools (core and injection
Around Cores
molds for lost-core).

Figure 1. The Lost-Core Process One of the major advantages of multishell is that it is
based on two very well-established processes:
Multishell Technology 1. Injection molding.
The multishell method uses the simple concept of taking 2. Joining, either by welding or overmolding.
several easily molded components and, through joining
The selection of joining method is critical to final part
techniques, bonding them together to form a complex final
quality.
part. Figure 2 illustrates this concept. This "building-
block" approach can allow for the manufacture of very
Vibration Welding
complex parts.
Vibration or "friction" welding is a process
utilizing mechanical vibrational energy plus
downward pressure to melt the contacting shell edges,
thereby forming a bond. Vibration frequencies (the move-

2
ment of joining edges across one another) generally range
between 120 to 240 Hz. One of the most criti-cal facets to
the success of a vibration-welded part, particularly for
complex shapes such as manifolds, is the application of a
uniform pressure to the joint contact surfaces. The quality
of the weld is highly dependent on the pressure distribu-
tion. This is because the degree of friction and, conse-
quently, the degree of melting depend on an evenly
applied pressure (see Figure 3).
uniform pressure on the joining edges occur. This is true
for all shell-joining methods, since the primary stresses,
both internal and external, will normally trans-fer to the
joint. Therefore, careful positioning of the gates is
required to take into account the effects of glass orienta-
tion on warpage.

To prevent the flow of melted material into the inte-rior of

the hollow, special designs utilizing flash traps are
required for the welded joint. Figure 4 shows a design,
which provides an adequate melt width for the load
requirements of most manifolds and minimizes flash.
Manifolds such as the one shown in Figure 5 have been
manufactured in this way.

Figure 4. Joint Design with Flash Traps for Vibration-

Welded Manifolds

Hot-Plate Welding
Hot-plate welding is also a viable method for joining the
shells. Complex, contoured "hot plates" which match the
joint contour can be produced. A higher degree of contour
complexity can be handled than with vibration welding.
This process is illustrated in Figure 6. Because of the num-
ber of steps involved in hot-plate welding, however, the
joint cycle time will be longer than with vibration welding.

Figure 3. Vibration-welded Joint Interaction

It should be noted that the main limitation to vibra-tion

welding of open shells is the restriction on the "friction-
generating movement" in a single primary direction.
Where complex part geometries make a primary vibration
direction impossible, hot-plate welding is a viable alterna-
tive. Note also that the shells being welding need to be as
free of warpage as possible, so that good alignment and a

3

Figure 5. Vibration-Welded Manifold
The uniform melt temperature on the weld surfaces, avail-
able in hot-plate welding, is a primary reason why hot
plate-welded hollow parts often have higher strength than
vibration-welded parts.
Figure 6. Hot-Plate Welding Process.
Welding Properties of Glass-Filled
Nylons for Manifolds
Through testing it becomes apparent that certain materials
weld better than others. In manifold applications, nylons
with 15 to 35% glass reinforce-ment are typically needed.
Tests have shown that PA6-based materials form stronger
welded bonds than PA66. This is shown in Figures 7 and
8 by the data on test bars of various nylons for both vibra-
tion and hot-plate welding. The difference between PA6
and PA66 is further magnified as the design of the welded
joint becomes optimized (see Figure 4). Figure 9 illus-
trates this claim when optimally
4
designed "Y"-pipes were burst-tested using various
nylons. Burst-strength levels achieved by 30% glass-filled
PA6 have safely surpassed typical manifold requirements.
Figure 7. Vibration-Welded Nylon Joint Strength.
Overmolding
A third method used to join shell components is the over-
molding process. Here premolded shells are fitted together
and placed into an overmold cavity. Overmolding,
usually with a material similar to that of the shells, provides a
perimeter seal plus any additional features that can be
integrated, such as flanges. Figure 10 shows a proven joint
design. In order to prevent material at the seam from flashing
into the part hollow, an adequate amount of space next to
the seal cavity must be allowed for in the tool. This space
allows the tool steel to adequately press the shell halves
together, preventing internal flashing during injection of the
overmold material. This method has been
successful in small engine manifolds, such as the Kohler
manifold shown in Figure 11. Cost savings of up to 40%
and weight savings of nearly 70% compared to cast metal
processes have been achieved by using overmolding.
Figure 8. Hot Plate-Welded Nylon Joint Strength.
Figure 10. Overmold Joint Design.
Summary
Methods for manufacturing hollow-cored plastic compo-
nents, such as manifolds, are now in a position, both tech-
nically and economically, to replace current metal designs.
Some estimates show that by the year 2000 nearly 80% of
automotive manifolds will be made of engineering ther-
moplastics. The multishell technique, when properly uti-
lized, pro-vides the simplest and most economical
approach to manufacturing these high-quality, hollow-
bodied components.

Figure 11. Overmolded Small-Engine Manifold (courtesy

of The Kohler Company).

Background References
1. Mehrshalenspritzguss - die preiswertere Alternative zur
Schmelzkerntechnik, H. Meier, ATI 914, Bayer
AG, 1994.
2. Two-Shell Overmold - A Cost-Competitive Process
for Air-Intake Manifolds, by Joe LeGrand,
Miles Inc.*, 1993.
3. U.S. Patent Number 4,544,588

Figure 9. "Y"-Pipe Burst Pressure.

5
 Bayer MaterialScience LLC • 100 Bayer Road • Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741 • 1-800-662-2927 • www.bayermaterialsciencenafta.com

The manner in which you use and the purpose to which you put and utilize our products, technical assistance and information (whether verbal, written
or by way of production evaluations), including any suggested formulations and recommendations are beyond our control. Therefore, it is imperative that
you test our products, technical assistance and information to determine to your own satisfaction whether they are suitable for your intended uses and
applications. This application-specific analysis must at least include testing to determine suitability from a technical as well as health, safety, and environ-
mental standpoint. Such testing has not necessarily been done by us. Unless we otherwise agree in writing, all products are sold strictly pursuant to the
terms of our standard conditions of sale. All information and technical assistance is given without warranty or guarantee and is subject to change with-
out notice. It is expressly understood and agreed that you assume and hereby expressly release us from all liability, in tort, contract or otherwise, incurred
in connection with the use of our products, technical assistance, and information. Any statement or recommendation not contained herein is unautho-
rized and shall not bind us. Nothing herein shall be construed as a recommendation to use any product in conflict with patents covering any material or
its use. No license is implied or in fact granted under the claims of any patent.

Copyright © 2003, Bayer MaterialScience LLC 9/04