CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF

PETROCHEMICALS ENGINEERING
&TECHNOLOGY(IPT),BHUBANESWAR

DEPARTMENT OF PLASTICS ENGINEERING

SEMINAR REPORT
ON
ROTATIONAL MOULDING

SUBMITTED BY:
DAYANAND TIWARI
REG. NO:-2121112035
BRANCH :- B.TECH (PE)
SEMESTER:- 7TH
 CONTENT

1. Introduction
2. Material Used
3. Process
4. Process Parameters
5. Advantages
6. Disadvantages
7. Applications
 INTRODUCTION
• Rotational molding, known also as rotomolding or rotocasting, is a
process for manufacturing hollow plastic products.
• Rotational molding is a high temperature and low pressure plastic
forming process.
• In this process the mould rotates biaxially during heating and
cooling cycle.
• Rotational moulded product are stress free because the product are
produced without any external pressure.
• Hollow product make in rotational moulding of thermoset but in blow
moulding not use thermoset.
 Materials Used
Thermosets and thermoplastic materials can be used, for example:
1. Low density polyethylene (LDPE)
2. High density polyethylene (HDPE)
3. Polypropylene (PP)
4. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
 PROCESS OF ROTATIONAL MOULDING

• The process consists of introducing a known amount of plastic in powder,

granular, or viscous liquid form into a hollow, shell-like mold.
• The mold is rotated and/or rocked about two principal axes at relatively low
speeds as it is heated so that the plastic enclosed in the mold adheres to, and
forms a layer against, the mold surface.
• The mold rotation continues during the cooling phase so that the plastic retains
its desired shape as it solidifies.
• When the plastic is sufficiently rigid, the cooling and mold rotation is stopped to
allow the removal of the plastic product from the mold.
STEPS IN ROTATIONAL MOULDING PROCESS
 LOADING
• This step includes weighing of the charge for a particular product
then transferring it to the open cold mould.
• The mould surface usually coated with a mould releasing agent.
• The raw material can be in the form of powder or liquid state. The
wall thickness can be controlled by varying the amount of raw
material charged. After the material is charged the mould is closed
and clamped to the arm of the machine.
• Then the mould is moved to an oven for heating.
 HEATING & MOULDING
• The mould fixed to the arm now moved to a closed chamber where it undergoes intense heating.
• During heating the mould rotates in two planes perpendicular to each other.
• The rotational speed varies in the range of 4-40 rpm on minor & 1-12 rpm on the major axis.
• The revolving motion distributes the plastic material uniformly over the inside surface of the
mould.
• In case of hot air oven the temperature should be between 200ºc to 500ºc.
• The moulding cycle time varies from 2 to 20 minutes depending upon the wall thickness of the
article.
• The wall thickness can vary from 2 to 12mm or more.
• The heating chamber should be large enough to house the mould and rotate it freely.
 COOLING
• For cooling the mould is transferred to the cooling station while
still rotating.
• The cooling should be made as quickly as possible to avoid the
plastic part to shrink away form the mould.
• Otherwise the part will get distorted.
• Cooling can be done by air or water. To provide faster cooling
cold water is sprayed over the mould.
 UNLOADING
• After cooling the mould is transferred to the unloading station.
• In this step the mould is opened and the cooled part is taken out.
• It can be done manually or with mechanical assistance.
• The ejection can also be done by forced air.
• The mould is cleaned and the charge is loaded for the next cycle.
 PROCESS PARAMETERS

1. Amount of powder
2. Heating temperature and time
3. Rotational speeds
4. Cooling rates
 Advantages
1. The major advantage of rotational moulding as compared to other plastic
moulding processes is that it can make very large parts.
2. Multilayer moulding is also possible for providing chemical resistance& strength
to the part.
3. It requires comparatively low cost input.
4. The products are stress free with strong out side corners. There are no weldlines,
sprue or gate marks.
5. Good control over wall thickness variation is also achievable as compared to blow
moulding or thermoforming.
6. Moulding can be done with metal inserts and minor undercuts.
7. No scrap or very little scrap is produced.
8. Low tooling cost.
 DISADVANTAGES

1. The moulding cycles are longer compared to blow

moulding and thermoforming.
2. In case of big parts loading and unloading is very labour
intensive.
3. The process is not suitable for parts with wall thickness
less than 0.03”.
4. The conversion of plastic granules to powder form
increases the equipment and process cost.
 Applications

• Storage tanks
• Bins and refuse containers
• Airplane parts
• Road cones
• Footballs
• Helmets
• Rowing boats
Thank you