LECTURE # 9 & 13

Forming and shaping of

plastics and composite
materials
Casting & Extrusion
Processing Of Plastics
The processing of plastics involves operations similar to
those used to form and shape metals

Plastics can be molded, cast, formed, machined and

joined; they can be processed into many shapes with
relative ease.

Plastics melt or cure at relatively low temperatures;

hence, unlike metals, they are easy to handle and
require less energy to process.

Raw material
Pellets, powder, sheet, plate, rod, tubing
Forming and Shaping Processing Of Plastics &
Composites
CASTING of Plastics
Some thermoplastics (e.g., nylons and acrylics) and
thermosetting plastics (e.g., epoxies, phenolics,
polyurethanes, polyester) can be cast.

Typical parts cast are gears, bearings, wheels, thick

sheets, and components requiring resistance to abrasive
wear.
Some of the casting process variations are

• Conventional casting
• Centrifugal casting.
• Potting and encapsulation
Conventional casting
In the conventional casting (Fig. a)
of thermoplastics,

A mixture of monomer, catalyst, and

various additives is heated and poured
into the mold.

The part forms after polymerization

takes place at ambient pressure.

Intricate shapes can be produced with flexible molds,

which are then peeled off.
Centrifugal casting
This process is also used with plastics, including reinforced
plastics with short fibers.
Potting and encapsulation
A variation of casting that is important to the electrical and
electronics industry is potting and encapsulation. This
process involves casting the plastic around an electrical
component to embed it in the plastic.

Potting (Fig. b) is done in a housing or case, which is an

integral part of the product.

The terms “potting” and “encapsulation” are often used

interchangeably, but technically, potting refers to a process
where the shell or “pot” that is filled with resin becomes a
part of the finished component.
 Potting and encapsulation

In encapsulation (Fig. c), the component is coated with

a layer of the solidified plastic. In both applications, the
plastic serves as a dielectric (nonconductor). Structural
members, such as hooks and studs, may be partly
encapsulated.

In encapsulation, the component and hardened resin are

then removed from the pot to be placed in an assembly.
Extrusion
In extrusion, raw materials are placed into a hopper and fed into the
extruder barrel.

The barrel is equipped with a screw that blends the pellets and conveys
them down the barrel. The internal friction from the mechanical action of
the screw, along with heaters around the extruder's barrel, heats the
pellets and liquefies them.

The screw action also builds up pressure plastic or elastomer is forced

through a die, in a process similar to that of extruding metals.
Extrusion continued…..
Three distinct sections of Screws
1. A feed section that conveys the material from the hopper area into the
central region of the barrel

2. A melt, or transition, section where the heat generated by the shearing of

the plastic and by the heaters causes melting to begin.

3. A pumping section where additional shearing and melting occurs, with

pressure buildup at the die.
Extrusion continued…..
The lengths of these sections can be changed to
accommodate the melting characteristics of different
plastics.

The molten plastic or elastomer is forced through a die. The

extruded product is then cooled, either by exposing it to air or
by passing it through a water-filled channel.

Controlling the rate and uniformity of cooling is important to

minimize product shrinkage and distortion
Extrusion Application
Complex shapes with constant cross-section can be extruded with relatively
inexpensive tooling. The extruded product can also be drawn (sized) by a
puller after it has cooled; the extruded product is then coiled or cut into
desired lengths.

Because there is a continuous supply of raw material on the hopper, long

products, such as solid rods, channels, tubing, pipe, window frames,
architectural components, and sheet can be extruded.

Plastic-coated electrical wire, cable, and strips are also extruded and coated
by this process. The wire is fed into the die opening at a controlled rate with
the extruded plastic in order to produce a uniform coating.

Pellets, which are used for other plastics-processing methods are made by
extrusion. Here, the extruded product is a small-diameter rod, which is
chopped into short lengths (pellets) as it is extruded
Extrusion Process Parameters
Process parameters are

• extruder-screw speed,
• barrel-wall temperatures,
• die design,
• cooling and
• drawing speeds should be controlled in order to extrude products
having uniform dimensional accuracy.

To filter out unmelted or congealed/jellied resin, a metal

screen is usually placed just before the die; it is replaced
periodically.
Injection Molding
A process in which polymer is heated to a highly plastic state
and forced to flow under high pressure into a mold cavity,
where it solidifies.

The molded part, called a molding ,is then removed from the
cavity.

The production cycle time is typically in the range of 10 to 30

sec, although cycles of 1 min or longer are not uncommon for
large parts.
Complex parts can be produced.
Parts weighing from 50 g up to about 25 kg can be molded.
the such as refrigerator doors and automobile bumpers.
The challenging task is to design and fabricate mold cavity.
 Injection Molding
An injection molding machine has two principal components:
The injection unit is much like an extruder. It
 Plastic injection unit consists of a barrel that is fed from one end by
a hopper containing a supply of plastic pellets.
 Mold clamping unit. Inside the barrel is a screw whose operation
surpasses that of an extruder screw in the
following respect: in addition to turning for
mixing and heating the polymer.
 Injection Molding
A non-return valve mounted near the tip of the screw prevents the
melt from flowing backward along the screw threads.
 Plastic injection unit
Its functions are to
(1) hold the two halves of the mold in proper
 Mold clamping unit. alignment with each other;
(2) keep the mold closed during injection by applying
a clamping force sufficient to resist the injection
force; and
(3) open and close the mold at the appropriate times
in the molding cycle.
 Injection Molding

Typical molding cycle: (1) mold is closed, (2) melt is injected into cavity, (3) screw is
retracted, and (4) mold opens, and part is ejected.
 Blow Molding

Blow molding: (1) extrusion of parison (2) parison is pinched at the top and sealed at the
bottom around a metal blow pin as the two halves of the mold come together; (3) the tube is
inflated so that it takes the shape of the mold cavity; and (4) mold is opened to remove the
solidified part.
 Blow Molding
Blow molding is a molding process in which air pressure is used
to inflate soft plastic inside a mold cavity.
It is an important industrial process for making one-piece hollow
plastic parts with thin walls, such as bottles and similar
containers.

Blow molding is accomplished in two steps:

(1) fabrication of a starting tube of molten plastic, called a
parison
(2) inflation of the tube to the desired final shape.

Forming the parison is accomplished by either extrusion or

injection molding.
 COMPRESSION MOLDING
Compression molding is widely used molding process for
thermosetting plastics.
The process, consists of
(1) loading a precise amount of molding compound, called the
charge, into the bottom half of a heated mold;
(2) bringing the mold halves together to compress the charge, forcing
it to flow and conform to the shape of the cavity;
(3) heating the charge by means of the hot mold to polymerize and
cure the material into a solidified part; and
(4) opening the mold halves and removing the part from the cavity.
 COMPRESSION MOLDING
The amount of polymer must be precisely controlled to obtain
repeatable consistency in the molded product.
To shorten production cycle time charge must be preheated.
Molds for compression molding are generally simpler than their
injection mold counterparts.
Thus the process itself is generally limited to simpler part geometries
because of the lower flow capabilities of the starting thermosetting
materials.
However, provision must be made for heating the mold, usually
accomplished by electric resistance heating, steam, or hot oil
circulation.
 COMPRESSION MOLDING
Compression molding is performed on phenolics, melamine,
urea-formaldehyde, epoxies, urethanes, and elastomers.
Typical parts produced include: electric plugs and sockets, pot
handles, and dinnerware plates.

Advantages of compression molding

(1) molds that are simpler and less expensive
(2) less scrap
(3)low residual stresses in the molded parts.

A typical disadvantage is
longer cycle times
and therefore lower production rates than injection molding.
 TRANSFER MOLDING
In this process, a thermosetting charge is loaded into a chamber
immediately ahead of the mold cavity, where it is heated;
pressure is then applied to force the softened polymer to flow into
the heated mold where curing occurs.

Cycle in both processes is:(1)charge is loaded into pot, (2) softened polymer is
pressed into mold cavity and cured, and (3) part is ejected.
 TRANSFER MOLDING
There are two variants of the process,
(a)Pot transfer molding, in which the charge is injected from a
‘‘pot’’ through a vertical sprue channel into the cavity;
(b) Plunger transfer molding, in which the charge is injected by
means of a plunger from a heated well through lateral
channels into the mold cavity.
 DIFFERENCE B/W COMPRESSION & TRANSFER MOLDING

Transfer molding is different from compression molding in that

the mold is enclosed rather than open to the fill plunger resulting
in higher dimensional tolerances and less environmental impact.
Transfer molding is capable of
molding part shapes that are
more intricate than compression
molding but not as intricate as
injection molding.
COMPRESSION MOLDING

TRANSFER MOLDING