Manufacturing Processes

Die Casting

a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly to an injection mold during the process. Most die castings are made from non-ferrous metals, specifically zinc, copper, aluminium, magnesium, lead, pewter and tin-based alloys. Depending on the type of metal being cast, a hot- or cold-chamber machine is used.

Injection Molding

, is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting material into a mould. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals, (for which the process is called die-casting), glasses, elastomers, confections, and most commonly thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Material for the part is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mould cavity, where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity.[1]:240 After a product is designed, usually by an industrial designer or an engineer, moulds are made by a mould-maker (or toolmaker) from metal, usually either steel or aluminium, and precision-machined to form the features of the desired part. Injection moulding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest components to entire body panels of cars. Advances in 3D printing technology, using photopolymers which do not melt during the injection moulding of some lower temperature thermoplastics, can be used for some simple injection moulds

Centrifugal Casting

A casting technique that is typically used to cast thin-walled cylinders. It is used to cast such materials as metal, glass, and concrete. It is noted for the high quality of the results attainable, particularly for precise control of their metallurgy and crystal structure. Unlike most other casting techniques, centrifugal casting is chiefly used to manufacture stock materials in standard sizes for further machining, rather than shaped parts tailored to a particular end-use.

Extrusion Molding

n is a high-volume manufacturing process in which raw plastic is melted and formed into a continuous profile. Extrusion produces items such as pipe/tubing, weatherstripping, fencing, deck railings, window frames, plastic films and sheeting, thermoplastic coatings, and wire insulation. This process starts by feeding plastic material (pellets, granules, flakes or powders) from a hopper into the barrel of the extruder. The material is gradually melted by the mechanical energy generated by turning screws and by heaters arranged along the barrel. The molten polymer is then forced into a die, which shapes the polymer into a pipe that hardens during cooling.[1]

Investment Casting Process

Castings can be made from an original wax model (the direct method) or from wax replicas of an original pattern that need not be made from wax (the indirect method). The following steps describe the indirect process, which can take two to seven days to complete. Produce a master pattern: An artist or mould-maker creates an original pattern from wax, clay, wood, plastic, or another material.[5] In recent years the production of patterns using 3D printing has become popular using either standard PLA filament or custom made 'casting wax' filament, in which case one goes directly to step 5. Create a mould: A mould, known as the master die, is made to fit the master pattern. If the master pattern was made from steel, the master die can be cast directly from the pattern using metal with a lower melting point. Rubber moulds can also be cast directly from the master pattern. Alternatively, a master die can be machined independently—without creating a master pattern.[5] Produce wax patterns: Although called wax patterns, pattern materials may also include plastic and frozen mercury.[5] Wax patterns can be produced in one of two ways. In one process, the wax is poured into the mold and swished around until an even coating, usually about 3 mm (0.12 in) thick, covers the inner surface of the mould. This is repeated until the desired pattern thickness is reached. Another method involves filling the entire mould with molten wax and letting it cool as a solid object.[citation needed] If a core is required, there are two options: soluble wax or ceramic. Soluble wax cores are designed to melt out of the investment coating with the rest of the wax pattern; ceramic cores are removed after the product has hardened.[5] Assemble wax patterns: Multiple wax patterns can be created and assembled into one large pattern to be cast in one batch pour. In this situation, patterns are attached to a wax sprue to create a pattern cluster, or tree. To attach patterns, a heating tool is used to slightly melt designated wax surfaces, which are then pressed against each other and left to cool and harden. As many as several hundred patterns can be assembled into a tree.[5][6] Wax patterns can also be chased, which means parting lines or flashings are rubbed out using the heated metal tool. Finally, patterns are dressed (by removing imperfections) to look like finished pieces.[7] Apply investment materials: The ceramic mould, known as the investment, is produced by repeating a series of steps—coating, stuccoing, and hardening—until a desired thickness is achieved. Coating involves dipping a pattern cluster into a slurry of fine refractory material and then draining to create a uniform surface coating. Fine materials are used in this first step, also called a prime coat, to preserve fine details from the mould. Stuccoing applies coarse ceramic particles by dipping patterns into a fluidised bed, placing it in a rainfall-sander, or by applying materials by hand. Hardening allows coatings to cure. These steps are repeated until the investment reaches its required thickness—usually 5 to 15 mm (0.2 to 0.6 in). Investment moulds are left to dry completely, which can take 16 to 48 hours. Drying can be accelerated by applying a vacuum or minimizing environmental humidity. Investment moulds can also be created by placing the pattern clusters into a flask and then pouring liquid investment material from above. The flask is then vibrated to allow entrapped air to escape and help the investment material fill any small voids.[5][8] Common refractory materials used to create the investments are: silica, zircon, various aluminium silicates, and alumina. Silica is usually used in the fused silica form, but sometimes quartz is used because it is less expensive. Aluminium silicates are a mixture of alumina and silica, where commonly used mixtures have an alumina content from 42 to 72%; at 72% alumina the compound is known as mullite. During the primary coat(s), zircon-based refractories are commonly used, because zirconium is less likely to react with the molten metal.[8] Prior to silica, a mixture of plaster and ground up old molds (chamotte) was used.[9] The binders used to hold the refractory material in place include: ethyl silicate (alcohol-based and chemically set), colloidal silica (water-based, also known as silica sol, set by drying), sodium silicate, and a hybrid of these controlled for pH and viscosity. Dewax: Once ceramic moulds have fully cured, they are turned upside-down and placed in a furnace or autoclave to melt out and/or vaporize the wax. Most shell failures occur at this point because the waxes used have a thermal expansion coefficient that is much greater than the investment material surrounding it—as the wax is heated it expands and introduces stress. To minimize these stresses the wax is heated as rapidly as possible so that outer wax surfaces can melt and drain quickly, making space for the rest of the wax to expand. In certain situations, holes may be drilled into the mold before heating to help reduce these stresses. Any wax that runs out of the mold is usually recovered and reused.[10] Burnout preheating: The mold is then subjected to a burnout, which heats the mold to between 870 °C and 1095 °C to remove any moisture and residual wax, and to sinter the mold. Sometimes this heating is also used to preheat the mould before pouring, but other times the mould is allowed to cool so that it can be tested. Preheating allows the metal to stay liquid longer so that it can better fill all mould details and increase dimensional accuracy. If the mold is left to cool, any cracks found can be repaired with ceramic slurry or special cements.[10][11] Pouring: The investment mold is then placed open-side up into a tub filled with sand. The metal may be gravity poured or forced by applying positive air pressure or other forces. Vacuum casting, tilt casting, pressure assisted pouring and centrifugal casting are methods that use additional forces and are especially useful when moulds contain thin sections that would be otherwise be difficult to fill.[11] Divesting: The shell is hammered, media blasted, vibrated, waterjeted, or chemically dissolved (sometimes with liquid nitrogen) to release the casting. The sprue is cut off and recycled. The casting may then be cleaned up to remove signs of the casting process, usually by grinding.[11]

Lost Foam Casting Process

First, a pattern is made from polystyrene foam, which can be done by many different ways. For small volume runs the pattern can be hand cut or machined from a solid block of foam; if the geometry is simple enough it can even be cut using a hot-wire foam cutter. If the volume is large, then the pattern can be mass-produced by a process similar to injection molding. Pre-expanded beads of polystyrene are injected into a preheated aluminum mold at low pressure. Steam is then applied to the polystyrene which causes it to expand more to fill the die. The final pattern is approximately 97.5% air and 2.5% polystyrene. Pre-made pouring basins, runners, and risers can be hot glued to the pattern to finish it.[1]

Full Mold Casting Process

First, a pattern is usually made from polystyrene foam, which can be done many different ways. For small volume runs the pattern can be hand cut or machined from a solid block of foam; if the geometry is simple enough it can even be cut using a hot-wire foam cutter. If the volume is large, then the pattern can be mass-produced by a process similar to injection molding. Pre-expanded beads of polystyrene are injected into a preheated aluminum mold at low pressure. Steam is then applied to the polystyrene which causes it to expand more to fill the die. The final pattern is approximately 97.5% air and 2.5% polystyrene. The finished patterns can be hot glued to pre-made pouring basins, runners, and risers to form the final pattern.[1] The pattern is then coated with a refractory material. The coated pattern (2) is placed in a flask and packed carefully with green sand (4) or a chemically bonded sand. Finally, the molten metal (1) is poured into the mold, which vaporizes the foam (3) allowing the metal to fill the entire mold. The vapor is simultaneously extracted from the flask through the sand. The casting is allowed to cool and then dumped out of the flask (5) ready to use. The sand does not need to be reprocessed so it can be directly reused.

Continuos Casting Process

Molten metal is tapped into the ladle from furnaces. After undergoing any ladle treatments, such as alloying and degassing, and arriving at the correct temperature, the ladle is transported to the top of the casting machine. Usually the ladle sits in a slot on a rotating turret at the casting machine. One ladle is in the 'on-cast' position (feeding the casting machine) while the other is made ready in the 'off-cast' position, and is switched to the casting position when the first ladle is empty. From the ladle, the hot metal is transferred via a refractory shroud (pipe) to a holding bath called a tundish. The tundish allows a reservoir of metal to feed the casting machine while ladles are switched, thus acting as a buffer of hot metal, as well as smoothing out flow, regulating metal feed to the molds and cleaning the metal (see below). Metal is drained from the tundish through another shroud into the top of an open-base copper mold. The depth of the mold can range from 0.5 to 2 metres (20 to 79 in), depending on the casting speed and section size. The mold is water-cooled to solidify the hot metal directly in contact with it; this is the primary cooling process.

Resin Casting Process

Most commonly a thermosetting resin is used that polymerizes by mixing with a curing agent (polymerization catalyst) at room temperature and normal pressure. The resins are named by analogy with plant resins, but are synthetic monomers for making polymer plastics. The so-called synthetic resins used include polystyrene resin, polyurethane resin, epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin, acrylic resin and silicone resin. Epoxy resin has a lower viscosity than polyurethane resin[citation needed]; polyester resin also shrinks markedly while curing.[1] Acrylic resin, in particular the methyl methacrylate type of synthetic resin, produces acrylic glass (also called PMMA, Lucite, Plexiglass), which is not a glass but a plastic polymer that is transparent, and very hard. It is suitable for embedding objects (such as, for example, acrylic trophies), for display purposes. Styrene is a similar liquid monomer at room temperature, which will also polymerize into clear glass-like polystyrene plastic, with addition of a suitable catalyst. A flexible mold can be made of latex rubber, room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber or other similar materials at relatively low cost, but can only be used for a limited number of castings. The simplest method is gravity casting where the resin is poured into the mold and pulled down into all the parts by gravity. When the two part resin is mixed air bubbles tend to be introduced into the liquid which can be removed in a vacuum chamber. The casting can also be done in a vacuum chamber (when using open molds) to either extract these bubbles, or in a pressure pot, to reduce their size to the point where they aren't visible. Pressure and/or centrifugal force can be used to help push the liquid resin into all details of the mold. The mold can also be vibrated to expel bubbles. Each unit requires some amount of hands-on labor, making the final cost per unit produced fairly high. This is in contrast to injection molding where the initial cost of creating the metal mold is higher, but the mold can be used to produce a much higher number of units, resulting in a lower cost per unit.

Shell Mold Casting Process

Pattern creation - A two-piece metal pattern is created in the shape of the desired part, typically from iron or steel. Other materials are sometimes used, such as aluminum for low volume production or graphite for casting reactive materials. Mold creation - First, each pattern half is heated to 175-370 °C (350-700 °F) and coated with a lubricant to facilitate removal. Next, the heated pattern is clamped to a dump box, which contains a mixture of sand and a resin binder. The dump box is inverted, allowing this sand-resin mixture to coat the pattern. The heated pattern partially cures the mixture, which now forms a shell around the pattern. Each pattern half and surrounding shell is cured to completion in an oven and then the shell is ejected from the pattern. Mold assembly - The two shell halves are joined together and securely clamped to form the complete shell mold. If any cores are required, they are inserted prior to closing the mold. The shell mold is then placed into a flask and supported by a backing material. Pouring - The mold is securely clamped together while the molten metal is poured from a ladle into the gating system and fills the mold cavity. Cooling - After the mold has been filled, the molten metal is allowed to cool and solidify into the shape of the final casting. Casting removal - After the molten metal has cooled, the mold can be broken and the casting removed. Trimming and cleaning processes are required to remove any excess metal from the feed system and any sand from the mold. Examples of shell molded items include gear housings, cylinder heads and connecting rods. It is also used to make high-precision molding cores.

Permanent Mold Casting Process

The gravity process begins by preheating the mold to 150-200 °C (300-400 °F) to ease the flow and reduce thermal damage to the casting. The mold cavity is then coated with a refractory material or a mold wash, which prevents the casting from sticking to the mold and prolongs the mold life. Any sand or metal cores are then installed and the mold is clamped shut. Molten metal is then poured into the mold. Soon after solidification the mold is opened and the casting removed to reduce chances of hot tears. The process is then started all over again, but preheating is not required because the heat from the previous casting is adequate and the refractory coating should last several castings. Because this process is usually carried out on large production run work-pieces automated equipment is used to coat the mold, pour the metal, and remove the casting.[3][4][5] The metal is poured at the lowest practical temperature in order to minimize cracks and porosity.[4] The pouring temperature can range greatly depending on the casting material; for instance zinc alloys are poured at approximately 370 °C (698 °F), while Gray iron is poured at approximately 1,370 °C (2,500 °F).[1]

Transfer Molding Process

The mold interior surfaces may be gel-coated. If desired the mold is first pre-loaded with a reinforcing fiber matrix or preform.[1] Fiber content of a transfer molded composite can be as high as 60% by volume. The fill material may be a preheated solid or a liquid. It is loaded into a chamber known as the pot. A ram or plunger forces material from the pot into the heated mold cavity. If feed-stock is initially solid, the forcing pressure and mold temperature melt it. Standard mold features such as sprue channels, a flow gate and ejector pins may be used. The heated mold ensures that the flow remains liquid for complete filling. Once filled the mold can be cooled at a controlled rate for optimal thermoset curing.

sand Mold Casting Process

There are six steps in this process: Place a pattern in sand to create a mold. Incorporate the pattern and sand in a gating system. Remove the pattern. Fill the mold cavity with molten metal. Allow the metal to cool. Break away the sand mold and remove the casting.

Die Casting Process

Two dies are used in die casting; one is called the "cover die half" and the other the "ejector die half". Where they meet is called the parting line. The cover die contains the sprue (for hot-chamber machines) or shot hole (for cold-chamber machines), which allows the molten metal to flow into the dies; this feature matches up with the injector nozzle on the hot-chamber machines or the shot chamber in the cold-chamber machines. The ejector die contains the ejector pins and usually the runner, which is the path from the sprue or shot hole to the mold cavity. The cover die is secured to the stationary, or front, platen of the casting machine, while the ejector die is attached to the movable platen. The mold cavity is cut into two cavity inserts, which are separate pieces that can be replaced relatively easily and bolt into the die halves.[16] The dies are designed so that the finished casting will slide off the cover half of the die and stay in the ejector half as the dies are opened. This assures that the casting will be ejected every cycle because the ejector half contains the ejector pins to push the casting out of that die half. The ejector pins are driven by an ejector pin plate, which accurately drives all of the pins at the same time and with the same force, so that the casting is not damaged. The ejector pin plate also retracts the pins after ejecting the casting to prepare for the next shot. There must be enough ejector pins to keep the overall force on each pin low, because the casting is still hot and can be damaged by excessive force. The pins still leave a mark, so they must be located in places where these marks will not hamper the casting's purpose

Electroforming

a metal forming process that forms parts through electrodeposition on a model, known in the industry as a mandrel. Conductive (metallic) mandrels are passivated (chemically) to preclude 'plating' and thereby to allow subsequent separation of the finished electroform. Non-conductive (glass, silicon, plastic) mandrels require the deposition of a conductive layer prior to electrodeposition. Conductive layers can be deposited chemically, or using vacuum deposition techniques (e.g., gold sputtering). The outer surface of the mandrel forms the inner surface of the form. The process involves high current through very clean water, having no more than about 5 parts per million organic contamination. The 'thrown' ions find their missing electrons on the mandrel, which is in electrical contact with the cathode of the electroforming tank. The ions deposit as neutral metal atoms, which bind to each other. Metal is electrodeposited until it is strong enough to be self-supporting

Resin Casting

a method of plastic casting where a mold is filled with a liquid synthetic resin, which then hardens. It is primarily used for small-scale production like industrial prototypes and dentistry. It can be done by amateur hobbyists with little initial investment, and is used in the production of collectible toys, models and figures, as well as small-scale jewelry production. The synthetic resin for such processes is a monomer for making a plastic thermosetting polymer. During the setting process, the liquid monomer polymerizes into the polymer, thereby hardening into a solid. Single-monomer resins may be used in the process, which form homopolymers (polymers containing only one type of polymer). In such uses, the "curing agent" mixed with the resin contains what is loosely referred to as a "catalyst," but which is more technically an initial source of free radicals (such as MEKP) to act as an initiator in a free-radical chemical chain reaction polymerization. Alternately, resin casting may be accomplished with a resin plus a nearly equal amount of a "hardener" liquid (as in many epoxy resin or polyester resin systems), which functionally contains a second polymer, for use in forming a final product plastic which is a copolymer. Copolymers contain two different alternating chemical entities in the final polymer molecule.

Centrigufal Casting Process

a permanent mold is rotated continuously about its axis at high speeds (300 to 3000 rpm) as the molten metal is poured. The molten metal is thrown towards the inside mold wall, where it solidifies after cooling. The casting is usually a fine-grained casting with a very fine-grained outer diameter, owing to chilling against the mould surface. Impurities and inclusions float to the surface of the inside diameter, which can be machined away. Casting machines may be either horizontal or vertical-axis.[1] Horizontal axis machines are preferred for long, thin cylinders, vertical machines for rings. Most castings are solidified from the outside first. This may be used to encourage directional solidification of the casting, and thus give useful metallurgical properties to it. Often the inner and outer layers are discarded and only the intermediary columnar zone is used.[2] the invention of Alfred Krupp, who used it to manufacture cast steel tyres for railway wheels in 1852.[3]

Slush Casting

a variant of permanent molding casting to create a hollow casting or hollow cast. In the process the material is poured into the mold and allowed to cool until a shell of material forms in the mold. The remaining liquid is then poured out to leave a hollow shell. The resulting casting has good surface detail but the wall thickness can vary. The process is usually used to cast ornamental products, such as candlesticks, lamp bases, and statuary, from low-melting-point materials.[2] A similar technique is used to make hollow chocolate figures for Easter and Christmas.[6] The method was developed by William Britain in 1893 for the production of lead toy soldiers. It uses less material than solid casting, and results in a lighter and less expensive product. Hollow cast figures generally have a small hole where the excess liquid was poured out.[citation needed]

Continuous Casting

also called strand casting, is the process whereby molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills. Prior to the introduction of continuous casting in the 1950s, steel was poured into stationary molds to form ingots. Since then, "continuous casting" has evolved to achieve improved yield, quality, productivity and cost efficiency. It allows lower-cost production of metal sections with better quality, due to the inherently lower costs of continuous, standardised production of a product, as well as providing increased control over the process through automation. This process is used most frequently to cast steel (in terms of tonnage cast). Aluminium and copper are also continuously cast.

Sand Mold Casting

also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process characterized by using sand as the mold material. The term "sand casting" can also refer to an object produced via the sand casting process. Sand castings are produced in specialized factories called foundries. Over 70% of all metal castings are produced via sand casting process.[1] Molds made of sand are relatively cheap, and sufficiently refractory even for steel foundry use. In addition to the sand, a suitable bonding agent (usually clay) is mixed or occurs with the sand. The mixture is moistened, typically with water, but sometimes with other substances, to develop the strength and plasticity of the clay and to make the aggregate suitable for molding. The sand is typically contained in a system of frames or mold boxes known as a flask. The mold cavities and gate system are created by compacting the sand around models, or patterns, or carved directly into the sand.

Shell Mold Casting

an expendable mold casting process that uses a resin covered sand to form the mold. As compared to sand casting, this process has better dimensional accuracy, a higher productivity rate, and lower labor requirements. It is used for small to medium parts that require high precision.[2] Shell mold casting is a metal casting process similar to sand casting, in that molten metal is poured into an expendable mold. However, in shell mold casting, the mold is a thin-walled shell created from applying a sand-resin mixture around a pattern. The pattern, a metal piece in the shape of the desired part, is reused to form multiple shell molds. A reusable pattern allows for higher production rates, while the disposable molds enable complex geometries to be cast. Shell mold casting requires the use of a metal pattern, oven, sand-resin mixture, dump box, and molten metal. Shell mold casting allows the use of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals, most commonly using cast iron, carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, aluminum alloys, and copper alloys. Typical parts are small-to-medium in size and require high accuracy, such as gear housings, cylinder heads, connecting rods, and lever arms.

Low Pressure Permanent Mold

casting uses a gas at low pressure, usually between 3 and 15 psi (20 to 100 kPa) to push the molten metal into the mold cavity. The pressure is applied to the top of the pool of liquid, which forces the molten metal up a refractory pouring tube and finally into the bottom of the mold. The pouring tube extends to the bottom of the ladle so that the material being pushed into the mold is exceptionally clean. No risers are required because the applied pressure forces molten metal in to compensate for shrinkage. Yields are usually greater than 85% because there is no riser and any metal in the pouring tube just falls back into the ladle for reuse.[2][8] The vast majority of LPPM casting are from aluminum and magnesium, but some are copper alloys. Advantages include very little turbulence when filling the mold because of the constant pressure, which minimizes gas porosity and dross formation. Mechanical properties are about 5% better than gravity permanent mold castings. The disadvantage is that cycles times are longer than gravity permanent mold castings.[8]

Milling Process

cutting process that uses a milling cutter to remove material from the surface of a workpiece. The milling cutter is a rotary cutting tool, often with multiple cutting points. As opposed to drilling, where the tool is advanced along its rotation axis, the cutter in milling is usually moved perpendicular to its axis so that cutting occurs on the circumference of the cutter. As the milling cutter enters the workpiece, the cutting edges (flutes or teeth) of the tool repeatedly cut into and exit from the material, shaving off chips (swarf) from the workpiece with each pass. The cutting action is shear deformation; material is pushed off the workpiece in tiny clumps that hang together to a greater or lesser extent (depending on the material) to form chips. This makes metal cutting somewhat different (in its mechanics) from slicing softer materials with a blade. The milling process removes material by performing many separate, small cuts. This is accomplished by using a cutter with many teeth, spinning the cutter at high speed, or advancing the material through the cutter slowly; most often it is some combination of these three approaches.[2] The speeds and feeds used are varied to suit a combination of variables. The speed at which the piece advances through the cutter is called feed rate, or just feed; it is most often measured in length of material per full revolution of the cutter. There are two major classes of milling process: In face milling, the cutting action occurs primarily at the end corners of the milling cutter. Face milling is used to cut flat surfaces (faces) into the workpiece, or to cut flat-bottomed cavities. In peripheral milling, the cutting action occurs primarily along the circumference of the cutter, so that the cross section of the milled surface ends up receiving the shape of the cutter. In this case the blades of the cutter can be seen as scooping out material from the work piece. Peripheral milling is well suited to the cutting of deep slots, threads, and gear teeth.

Investment Casting

derives its name from the pattern being invested (surrounded) with a refractory material. Many materials are suitable for investment casting; examples are stainless steel alloys, brass, aluminium, carbon steel and glass. The material is poured into a cavity in a refractory material that is an exact duplicate of the desired part. Due to the hardness of refractory materials used, investment casting can produce products with exceptional surface qualities, which can reduce the need for secondary machine processes.[3] Water glass and silica sol investment casting are the two primary investment casting methods nowadays. The main differences are the surface roughness and cost of casting. Water glass method dewaxes into the high-temperature water, and the ceramic mold is made of water glass quartz sand. Silica sol method dewaxes into the flash fire, and silica sol zircon sand makes the ceramic mold. Silica sol method costs more but has the better surface than water glass method.[4] The process can be used for both small castings of a few ounces and large castings weighing several hundred pounds. It can be more expensive than die casting or sand casting, but per-unit costs decrease with large volumes. Investment casting can produce complicated shapes that would be difficult or impossible with other casting methods. It can also produce products with exceptional surface qualities and low tolerances with minimal surface finishing or machining required.

Blow Molding

is a manufacturing process by which hollow plastic parts are formed: It is also used for forming glass bottles. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, and injection stretch blow molding. The blow molding process begins with melting down the plastic and forming it into a parison or in the case of injection and injection stretch blow moulding (ISB) a preform. The parison is a tube-like piece of plastic with a hole in one end through which compressed air can pass. The parison is then clamped into a mold and air is blown into it. The air pressure then pushes the plastic out to match the mold. Once the plastic has cooled and hardened the mold opens up and the part is ejected.

Transfer Molding

is a manufacturing process where casting material is forced into a mold. Transfer molding is different from compression molding in that the mold is enclosed [Hayward] rather than open to the fill plunger resulting in higher dimensional tolerances and less environmental impact.[1] Compared to injection molding, transfer molding uses higher pressures to uniformly fill the mold cavity. This allows thicker reinforcing fiber matrices to be more completely saturated by resin.[1] Furthermore, unlike injection molding the transfer mold casting material may start the process as a solid. This can reduce equipment costs and time dependency. The transfer process may have a slower fill rate than an equivalent injection molding processes.[1]

Permanent Mold Casting

is a metal casting process that employs reusable molds ("permanent molds"), usually made from metal. The most common process uses gravity to fill the mold, however gas pressure or a vacuum are also used. A variation on the typical gravity casting process, called slush casting, produces hollow castings. Common casting metals are aluminium, magnesium, and copper alloys. Other materials include tin, zinc, and lead alloys and iron and steel are also cast in graphite molds.[1][2] Typical products are components such as gears, splines, wheels, gear housings, pipe fittings, fuel injection housings, and automotive engine pistons.

Compression Molding

is a method of molding in which the moulding material, generally preheated, is first placed in an open, heated mould cavity. The mold is closed with a top force or plug member, pressure is applied to force the material into contact with all mold areas, while heat and pressure are maintained until the molding material has cured. The process employs thermosetting resins in a partially cured stage, either in the form of granules, putty-like masses, or preforms. Compression molding is a high-volume, high-pressure method suitable for molding complex, high-strength fiberglass reinforcements. Advanced composite thermoplastics can also be compression molded with unidirectional tapes, woven fabrics, randomly oriented fiber mat or chopped strand. The advantage of compression molding is its ability to mold large, fairly intricate parts. Also, it is one of the lowest cost molding methods compared with other methods such as transfer molding and injection molding; moreover it wastes relatively little material, giving it an advantage when working with expensive compounds. However, compression molding often provides poor product consistency and difficulty in controlling flashing, and it is not suitable for some types of parts. Fewer knit lines are produced and a smaller amount of fiber-length degradation is noticeable when compared to injection molding. Compression-molding is also suitable for ultra-large basic shape production in sizes beyond the capacity of extrusion techniques. Materials that are typically manufactured through compression molding include: Polyester fiberglass resin systems (SMC/BMC), Torlon, Vespel, Poly(p-phenylene sulfide) (PPS), and many grades of PEEK.[

Lost Foam Casting

is a type of evaporative-pattern casting process that is similar to investment casting except foam is used for the pattern instead of wax. This process takes advantage of the low boiling point of foam to simplify the investment casting process by removing the need to melt the wax out of the mold.

Vacuum Molding

is a variation of the sand casting process for most ferrous and non-ferrous metals,[6] in which unbonded sand is held in the flask with a vacuum. The pattern is specially vented so that a vacuum can be pulled through it. A heat-softened thin sheet (0.003 to 0.008 in (0.076 to 0.203 mm)) of plastic film is draped over the pattern and a vacuum is drawn (200 to 400 mmHg (27 to 53 kPa)). A special vacuum forming flask is placed over the plastic pattern and is filled with a free-flowing sand. The sand is vibrated to compact the sand and a sprue and pouring cup are formed in the cope. Another sheet of plastic is placed over the top of the sand in the flask and a vacuum is drawn through the special flask; this hardens and strengthens the unbonded sand. The vacuum is then released on the pattern and the cope is removed. The drag is made in the same way (without the sprue and pouring cup). Any cores are set in place and the mold is closed. The molten metal is poured while the cope and drag are still under a vacuum, because the plastic vaporizes but the vacuum keeps the shape of the sand while the metal solidifies. When the metal has solidified, the vacuum is turned off and the sand runs out freely, releasing the casting.

Full Mold Casting

is an evaporative-pattern casting process which is a combination of sand casting and lost-foam casting. It uses an expanded polystyrene foam pattern which is then surrounded by sand, much like sand casting. The metal is then poured directly into the mold, which vaporizes the foam upon contact.

Milling

is the machining process of using rotary cutters to remove material[1] from a workpiece by advancing (or feeding) in a direction at an angle with the axis of the tool.[2][3] It covers a wide variety of different operations and machines, on scales from small individual parts to large, heavy-duty gang milling operations. It is one of the most commonly used processes in industry and machine shops today for machining parts to precise sizes and shapes. Milling can be done with a wide range of machine tools. The original class of machine tools for milling was the milling machine (often called a mill). After the advent of computer numerical control (CNC), milling machines evolved into machining centers (milling machines with automatic tool changers, tool magazines or carousels, CNC control, coolant systems, and enclosures), generally classified as vertical machining centers (VMCs) and horizontal machining centers (HMCs). The integration of milling into turning environments and of turning into milling environments, begun with live tooling for lathes and the occasional use of mills for turning operations, led to a new class of machine tools, multitasking machines (MTMs), which are purpose-built to provide for a default machining strategy of using any combination of milling and turning within the same work envelope.

Compression Molding Process

plastic material is placed directly into a heated metal mold, then is softened by the heat, and forced to conform to the shape of the mold as the mold closes. Process characteristics[edit] The use of thermoset plastic compounds characterizes this molding process from many of the other molding processes. These thermosets can be in either preform or granule shapes. Unlike some of the other processes we find that the materials are usually preheated and measured before molding. This helps to reduce excess flash. Inserts, usually metallic, can also be molded with the plastic. As a side note, remember not to allow any undercuts on the shape, it will make ejection especially difficult. Thermoplastic matrices with an inherent indefinite shelf-life and shorter cycle moulding times are widely used and examples are shown in Ref 3. Process schematic[edit] The compression molding starts, with an allotted amount of plastic or gelatin placed over or inserted into a mold. Afterward the material is heated to a pliable state in and by the mold. Shortly there after the hydraulic press compresses the pliable plastic against the mold, resulting in a perfectly molded piece, retaining the shape of the inside surface of the mold. After the hydraulic press releases, an ejector pin in the bottom of the mold quickly ejects the finished piece out of the mold and then the process is finished. Depending on the type of plunger used in the press, there will or won't be excess material on the mold.