Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Composites and Application of Industrial Plastic Tooling

       There are different materials and design features are used in plastic tooling depending on the type of part that is being produced. Most molds (tools) are made out of steel or aluminum. Additionally, part design may require side actions in order to mold cores that are often perpendicular to the normal draw of the mold. These actions may be cam or hydraulically actuated.        Epoxy systems are used in industrial tooling applications to produce molds, master models, laminates, castings, fixtures, and other industrial production aids. This "plastic tooling" replaces metal, wood and other traditional materials, and generally improves the efficiency and either lowers the overall cost or shortens the lead-time for many industrial processes. Epoxies are also used in producing fiber-reinforced or composite parts. They are more expensive than polyester resins and vinyl ester resins, but usually produce stronger and more temperature-resistant composite parts.
       Injection molding is used to create many things such as wire spools, packaging, bottle caps, automotive dashboards, pocket combs, some musical instruments (and parts of them), one-piece chairs and small tables, storage containers, mechanical parts (including gears), and most other plastic products available today. Take LCD cabinet for instance, since the requirements of LCD cabinet keep growing due to the development of technology, it becomes one of the popular applications for plastic tooling.

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