Over past months, many in-house workflows and development processes have slowed down and also changed. Nevertheless, time has not stood still, also not in injection molding technology. The debate and development have been shaped by two themes: digitalization and the circular economy. Below are some examples of developments and projects that underpin this trend.

Two displays are seamlessly integrated into the continuously 3D-formed instrument panel

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Schaumspritzgießen

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Steuern, Regeln

Software

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Spritzgießsimulation

Simulation

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

Spritzgießmaschinen

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Lasermarkieren

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Inline- / Online-Messsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Kreislaufwirtschaft

There Is More beyond the Horizon

Once again, the K 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, lived up to its claim to be the leading trade show for plastics technology. At least in the field of injection molding, there were exciting global innovations to see – if you looked closely.

Fig. 1. Smart Operation – the machine is operated with only four buttons (© KraussMaffei)

Injection Molding Trends at K 2019

Smart Factory

Energieeffizienz

Mikrospritzgießen

Spritzgießmaschinen, allgemein

Fließpressen

Handling, Handhabungstechnik für die spanende Fertigung

Automatisierungstechnik

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Elastomer-Spritzgießen

Linearroboter für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrieroboter

Montagetechnik

Montage-Spritzgießen

Knickarmroboter

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Hybrid-Spritzgießen (Metall / Kunststoff)

Ressourcenmanagement

Produktion

Technical Excellence thanks  to Digital Assistance

Foamed polystyrene boards (XPS) have been used for generations in thermal insulation applications, e. g. for buildings. Due to its comparable mechanical and thermal properties, bio-based cellulose acetate (CA) represents a promising, sustainable alternative which is also an interesting material for technical components due to its heat resistance. However, producing such parts by foam extrusion or foam injection molding with halogen-free flame retardant systems and environmentally friendly blowing agents is a challenge. 

Foamed Boards and Foamed Injection Molded Parts Made from Cellulose Acetate with a Halogen-Free Flame Retardant System and Environmentally Friendly Blowing Agents 

Polystyrol

Flammschutzmittel

Extrusion

Schäumen / Reaktive Verarbeitung

Bioplastics with Halogen-Free  Flame Retardants 

The multitude of software applications often requires the handling of information in different data formats. It is not uncommon for information to be lost in the process, which is why PIC 4.0 is researching methods for implementing continuous simulation chains.

Stages of an exemplary product development process for a load-balanced saddle equipped with different tapes

16:9

Part 6 of the Series: How a Web-Based Interface Supports Data-Handling

Virtual Reality für die Qualitätssicherung

User-Friendly Data-Exchange in the Digital Engineering

After a year’s forced break of Fakuma, Wittmann Battenfeld is announcing the new servohydraulic SmartPlus machine as the highlight of this year’s trade show. It is claimed to be characterized by high economic and energy efficiency and repeat accuracy.

The new SmartPlus machine is equipped with the HiQ Flow software and the CMS Light condition monitoring system

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

Spritzprägen

Injection Molding Innovations In-House, Live and in Color

Guido Frohnhaus has been Managing Director Technology & Engineering at Arburg for a good two years now. The pandemic restrictions meant that he has made very few appearances outside the company so far, but, as he says himself, he spent the time getting to know the in-house processes at all levels and in great detail. In this interview with Kunststoffe, the 52-year-old talks about the course he plans to set and how crucial the high level of in-house manufacturing and programming expertise is for the company’s independence.

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

“Gestica Will Be the Fixed Star in the Customer’s Universe”

The resource-economical determination of an optimized operating point in injection molding is still a challenge. Machine learning offers great potential for re-using knowledge from a flow simulation that has already been generated.

Significant reduction of the effort for determining the optimum operating point by machine learning

Machine Learning: Combining Simulation and Experimental Test Data

DOE-Software

Qualitätsmethoden

Digitaler Zwilling

Quicker Evaluation of the Optimum Operating Point

The highly diverse offering at K 2019 ranged from ingenious detailed applications to complete solutions that encompass the entire process. In the extrusion sector, the topic of the circular economy was very much in the shadow of developments relating to Industry 4.0.

Size is everything: the largest available pipe die with an adjustable melt gap

New and Further Developments Focus on Quality and Efficiency

Messtechnik

Flachfolienanlagen

Extrusionsanlagen

Blasfolienextrusion

Elektrische / Magnetische Messtechnik

Rohr- und Profilextrusion

Extrusionswerkzeuge

New Dimensions in Extrusion

Localizing the technical support and grade development in Europe is the company’s next step of business expansion of its SunForce family of high-performance particle foams.

Asahi Kasei Europe has opened a new Foam Lab at its R&D Center in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Schaumstoffe

Schaumstoffe und Vorprodukte

Technische Kunststoffe

Thermoplaste

Asahi Kasei Europe Launches Foam Lab in Düsseldorf, Germany

In the realm of virtual product development, the idea of the cycle has been around for many years. But where does the cycle begin? When we take a closer look at this concept, new aspects rightly start to emerge.

Fig. 1. Stress-strain diagram as a function of microstructure. Shown are three different porosities (5 to 15 %) relative to the compact material

When Traditional Approaches Meet their Micromechanical Counterparts

Werkstoffprüfung, mechanisch

Werkstoffprüfung

Analysetools, FEM

Produktentwicklung(sprozess)

Qualitätsmanagement

Cracking Product Development

The digital shadow is the core concept of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen University. It represents the data trace of an asset to describe its real behavior. In the Plastics Innovation Center 4.0 (PIC 4.0), digital shadows, e.g. the data trace of a sensor, are used to optimize processes taking into account real behavior and to determine simulation quality.

The construction of the PIC 4.0 proceeds and throws its shadow on the Campus Melaten.

Part 7 of the Series: How the Digital Shadow Enlightens Real Processes in the PIC 4.0

Sensorik für Kunststoff-Verarbeitungsmaschinen

Out of the Shadow into the Light

Arburg has adopted a clear message for its trade fair appearance at the K 2022 in Düsseldorf: „There is only a Plan A“.

In the arburgGreenworld pavilion of the VDMA Circular Economy Forum, an Allrounder 370 A with recyclate package is manufacturing “Greenline” wall plugs from Fischer.

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

Sustainability thanks to Digitalization

iQ process observer, the new process monitoring platform from Engel monitors hundreds of parameters from the injection molding cell in the background.

The injection molder is truly not a friend of changes – if they occur in the running process. The iQ process observer helps him to keep an eye on the process and thus keep a handle on the quality

A Process Monitoring Platform Monitors Several Hundred Parameters Simultaneously

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Prozessvisualisierung

Condition Monitoring / Prozessüberwachung

Instandhaltung

IoT-Plattformen für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

An Eye on the Process –  a Handle on Quality

With the new combined injection molding and particle foam process, forward-looking companies can tap innovative potential, particularly in lightweight construction. The technology, whose industrial practicability has now been demonstrated, removes the limitations of the well-established particle-foam composite injection molding simply by reversing the sequence. 

Lightweight Construction: Foaming after Injection Molding 

Lightweight parts, energy-saving processing or the practice of combining several process steps into one can all be subsumed under one current buzzword: sustainability. A technology that is highly promising in this regard is thermoplastic foam injection molding.

In physical foam injection molding, a blowing gas is injected into the polymer melt during plasticizing

New Developments in Thermoplastic Foam Injection Molding

A Special Process that Is Becoming a Sustainable Normal Case

Controlling cellular structure in thermoplastic foam injection molding – influence of processing and mold technologies

Foam injection molding is a processing technology to produce foamed plastic parts in serials production, attaining an increasing interest and use in industry. However, the applications are limited due to insufficient knowledge of processing and mechanical properties, limited use of light-weight potential as well restricted surface qualities. All these drawbacks are associated with the cellular structure. The structure characteristics like skin layer thickness, cell size, density and uniformity are developed during procedure. Thus, controlling the cell formation process is the key to work against the restrictions and optimize mechanical properties.

In conventional or low-pressure foam injection molding procedure, mold filling and foaming occur simultaneously. The cellular characteristics can only be controlled in a very limited range and are often non-uniform by flow length and cross-section, not allowing a precise prediction of the mechanical performance. These limitations can be counteracted by high-pressure foam injection molding with volume-expandable molds. This special process variant may decouple filling and foaming phase and allow an active control of cellular characteristics. Cell formation mechanism may actively be shifted from cell growth to nucleation. Thus, finer-celled, homogeneous, less flowpath dependent structures with density reductions > 50 % can be achieved, and the mechanical properties can actively be influenced. This potential is often unknown due to insufficient knowledge about the process parameters and its effects on structure formation. While the conventional or low-pressure procedure has been asserted and is used in industrial applications, high-pressure procedure with volume-expandable molds is often unknown or used in a very limited range.

This thesis deals with formation of cellular structure in thermoplastic foam injection molding process. The work focusses on influences by processing and mold technologies. High-pressure procedure in combination with volume-expandable molds – mold opening or core-back – is in focus. As a new process variant, the local core-back procedure (local mold volume expansion) is introduced, enabling a local customization of foam structures. The differences in procedures and the influence of additional process parameters are worked out. Here, especially the role of packing pressure as a key factor for structure development is discussed. To get more information on boundary conditions inside the mold during procedure and make the process more transparent, numerical simulation has been used and visualization molding trials were conducted to monitor the cell development inside the mold during processing. Furthermore, a new mold, i.a. allowing an active control of pressure drop rate was built and used. To analyze the structure and quantify the structural parameters, besides light microscopy and SEM, also x-ray tomography (μCT) was used to allow a three-dimensional characterization of structures.

foam injection molding / high-pressure foam injection molding / core-back / mold-opening / cellular plastics / structure development / structure analysis / foam simulation / process-structure relationship / lightweight construction

Dissertation Mike Tromm.pdf

2021-04-28 Dissertation Mike Tromm

issue 07/2022

issue 06/2022

issue 05/2022

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