A surge of new molding technologies is transforming plastics processing and material forms to the highly efficient, integrated manufacturing that will set industry standards in the early years of the new century. This book is a survey of these technologies, putting them into context and accentuating opportunities. The relations among these technologies are analyzed in terms of:

Products: auto parts (e.g. bumpers, trim, keyless entry module, blower switch housing), business machines chassis, pallets, furniture, handles, television housings, covers, golf club shafts, connectors, notebook casing, switches, sensors, antennas, sockets, lighting, cellular phone housing, submicron parts, and medical devices.

Materials: composition, resin consideration, blends, structure (skin/core), shrinkage, viscosity, weld line strength, structural properties, morphology, reinforcement, surface roughness.

Processing: macroscopic structure, size and shape, typical problems and their solutions, flow length, injection pressure prediction, process simulation, processing parameters, tooling issues, rheology, rheokinetics, flow equations, flow simulation, no-slip boundary conditions, pressure loss, surface appearance, manufacturing cost, leakage modelling, set-up criteria, optimization of molding parameters non-return valve applications.

Geometry: function (enclosure/support) and complexity (symmetric/three-dimensional), molding window, filling of complex-art, design optimization, x-ray tomography, image reconstruction, acoustic imaging, warpage calculation, simulation and calculation, flow channels, and tight tolerance.

Special Injection Molding Techniques covers several techniques used to create multicomponent products, hollow areas, and hard-soft combinations that cannot be produced with standard injection molding processes. It also includes information on the processing techniques of special materials, including foaming agents, bio-based materials, and thermosets. The book describes the most industrially relevant special injection molding techniques, with a detailed focus on understanding the basics of each technique and its main mechanisms, i.e., temperature, mold filling, bonding, residual stresses, and material behavior, also providing an explanation of process routes and their variants, and discussions of the most influencing process parameters. As special molding technologies have the potential to transform plastics processing to a highly-efficient, integrated type of manufacturing, this book provides a timely survey of these technologies, putting them into context, accentuating new opportunities, and giving relevant information on processing.