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Compression Injection Moulding for high end appliance moulders

Compression Injection Moulding (CIM) attempts to combine the high productivity of Conventional injection moulding with the Stress Free moulding obtained by Compression Moulding. It is well suited for articles with a high Flow path/wall thickness ratio. It is possible to mould articles on a lower Clamp tonnage than conventional Injection moulding. Historically moulding of plastics started with compression moulding. Majority of Thermosets are still Compression Moulded, though most thermoplastics are Injection Moulded, as they are melt processible, making it suitable for the Injection moulding process. The advantages of Injection moulding are well known, much faster cycle times, in seconds as compared to minutes in Compression moulding. However Compression moulding has two distinct advantages even with Thermoplastics. Stress free mouldings: The high pressures exerted on the melt and the fast cooling in injection moulding locks in a lot of stresses in the moulding. This is the driving force for warpage and dimensional instability in Injection moulded products. Such built in stresses may be unacceptable in certain products especially if they are thin and flat and have to be moulded from High Viscosity Polymer Systems. A classic case is the Vinyl LP record. PVC has a very high melt viscosity and Compression Moulding allowed the discs to be moulded without warpage and excellent retention of the microgroove fidelity needed for flawless sound reproduction. The longer cycle times of compression moulding had to be lived with as it was nearly impossible to mould a good quality LP on Injection Moulding Machines. Some 45 RPM singles were injection moulded, but the weight used to be more than their compression moulded brethren. Compact disks injection moulded from the less viscous Polycarbonate has displaced the Vinyl LP, but some music aficionados still swear by the rich analogue sounds of Vinyl and some are still produced by compression moulding. Again in the PVC field, Laboratory test sheets for tensile tests and other physical properties are compression moulded from Roll Milled stock. The test sheets have no residual stresses which would interfere with the physical properties being tested. Dumbell and other test pieces are punvhed from the stress free compression moulded sheet. Lower Clamping Tonnages: The clamping tonnages required for a moulded component being compression moulded is much lower than in Injection moulding. In injection moulding, the clamp tonnage needed is actually determined by the peak filling pressure required to fill the last extremities of the mould cavity. This is usually a sharp spike and is much higher than the average Filling pressure. However, the Clamp tonnage of the machine has to be high enough to resist this peak pressure or the mould will open. This plot shows that a clamping tonnage of ~2,000T is required to prevent the mould from opening up during injection. The platen size of such a large machine may be much more than required by the Mould dimensions.

In Compression Moulding, there is no end of fill peak, and much smaller dimensioned presses can be used to gently squeeze the heated polymer to fill the mould completely. The moulding force required to close the press platens would be much lower than in Injection moulding. This is well illustrated in the data provided by Sumitomo-Demag in their literature on Injection Compression Moulding:

There could be significant savings in Capital costs as the prices of Injection Moulding machines increase exponentially with clamp Tonnage:

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Compression Injection Moulding for high end appliance moulders, outlines... http://www.plastemart.com/Plastic-Technical-Article.asp?LiteratureID=1579
with clamp Tonnage:

Compression Injection Moulding: Compression Injection Moulding (CIM) is a technique which synergises the advantages of Injection Moulding Compression Moulding to offer a solution for difficult and costly to mould components using conventional techniques. Let us have a closer look at the process stepwise:

and

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The process sequence needs modifications in from the normal Injection cycle. Nowadays, microprocessor controlled Injection Moulding machines are quite common, thus setting up the Compression Injection Moulding sequence is a lot easier than with electromechanically controlled machines of yore. Linear Transducers have also replaced limit switches which adds to setting accuracy. However, precise control is needed to make CIM work, and the setting up with a new mould needs precise adjustments. Machines with memory storage would be very helpful to shorten setup times. Overflashing or underfilling is always a danger if set conditions drift slightly. If Part design permits, a variant of CIM can be used. CIM with Auxiliary Ram The main mould closes fully during Injection. Precise Clamping stroke adjustments during the cycle which may be difficult with toggle machines are not needed. An Auxiliary Ram is required to be fitted concentric to the Main clamping system. The action is similar to Ejector Pins but actually moves part of the mould. A hydraulic circuit is needed to build up sufficient pressure for the Auxiliary Ram.

1. Injection Starts

2. Injection Continues

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3. Injection stops, Auxiliary Ram movement starts

4. Auxiliary Ram Moves fully forward Compression injection moulding is a solution to tackle difficult to mould components. It is best suited for: Flow path/Thickness ratios 100~150 High melt viscosity Engineering Plastics Long Fibre Reinforced Polymers Mouldings with finely textured surfaces Foam mouldings requiring good surface finish. Thin wall Injection Moulding is cutting edge technology and is very expensive. Injection pressures needed are several orders higher than in normal injection moulding. This calls for materials of construction which are much stronger than the steels used in conventional Injection Moulding machines. Compression Injection Moulding which is based on modifications on conventional Injection equipment and may work out cheaper than a full fledged TWIM (Thin Walled Injection Moulding) Machines. The consumer fuelled trend of making laptops, handheld computers and mobile phones smaller and lighter has spawned a lot of thin wall mouldings from high strength engineering plastics, and high flow path/thickness ratios were common. Compression Injection Moulding could be adapted to produce such difficult to mould components. One common problem in thin wall mouldings like keypad covers is the numerous flow obstructions forced by the button cutouts. There are numerous weld lines which are potential failure points. The Auxiliary Ram process could be effectively used so that the moving part of the mould mounted on the ram squeezes out the holes in the weld free melt already injected. This is better than mechanically punching out the holes after the shell has cooled down. Stress points and Stress whitening are common in post moulding blanking. The compression moulding process could also eliminate offcuts of costly polymer generated in blanking. Added to this, the very low level of moulding stresses guarantees a warpage free component. This is very important for mouldings which have to be assembled with close tolerances. This article outlines the Compression Injection process and how it could be a workable solution to moulding problems. The process is not very well known in India, and perhaps this article can spark development work at Machinery Manufacturers and high end appliance moulders to induct Compression Injection Moulding.
Author: Siddhartha Roy, Consultant, RoyPlasTech, Pune. Contact Author Forward this article to friend Print this article

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