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

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

The Reversecube two-part cube mold is used to produce 60 million multicomponent parts per year on one production line and in the same process. The cycle times must be kept very short while at the same time maintaining stable processes and a high part quality. Sensor-based monitoring and automatic process control is therefore deployed in the form of Fillcontrol from Priamus. It consists of hot-runner balancing, viscosity and compression control as well as automatic holding pressure changeover.

The two halves of the Reversecube cube mold, in stacked arrangement, rotate in 90° steps. Bottom: injection and cooling component 1, analogous to the component 2 above, which is offset by 180°

Automating Injection Molding with Process Control – with the Example of a Cube Mold

Werkzeuginnendrucksensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Werkzeugtemperatursensoren

Quality Assurance for Multiple Cavities

The area of application of cube molds has expanded to take in the production of technical parts. The new Allrounder Cube 1800 from Arburg with a clamping force of 1800 kN is providing the response to this trend. With its compact cube, this machine completes the portfolio of products at the lower end of the range.

At the heart of the cube machine is a compact cube designed by our partner Foboha which can be easily accessed from above. The rotation of the cube is powered servo-electrically and the horizontal movement relies on rack and pinion mechanisms

Arburg Expands Hybrid Cube Series

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

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.

16:9

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

Sensorik für Kunststoff-Verarbeitungsmaschinen

Digitaler Zwilling

Out of the Shadow into the Light

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”

Internal pressure loads are typical for fiber-reinforced plastic components. To increase the burst strength of components, the fiber orientation can be modified in a targeted way during injection molding by means of a rotating mold core. A newly developed simulation method allows this modified fiber orientation to be taken into account at the design stage.

Practical implementation of a mold system with rotating core.

Mold System with Rotating Core Improves Mechanical Properties

Werkstoffprüfung, mechanisch

Werkstoffprüfung

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Faserverbundwerkstoffe

Andere Werkstoffe

Design Methodology for Parts Subject to Internal Pressure

The toolmaking industry of the future is facing significant changes in its range of services and its value creation processes. It is difficult to predict exactly how the collaboration of German tool manufacturers with series production will be structured in the future. However, it can be assumed that digital networking and sustainability will play a key role.

What the Two Trend Topics Mean for Collaboration between Toolmaking and Series Production

Werkzeug- und Formenbau

Dienstleistungen

Werkzeug-, Formen- und Modellbau

Vorbeugende Instandhaltung für die Qualitätssicherung

Datenanalyse

Toolmaking of the Future –  Digitalized and Sustainable

At the introductory press conference for K 2022, Dr Thorsten Thümen, Senior Director Technology, outlined the company’s evolving strategic focus.

Senior Director for Technology Dr. Thorsten Thümen announces several premieres at K 2022.

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe.de

Elektrische Antriebe für Spritzgießmaschinen

Antriebe

Elektrische Antriebe

New High-Speed Machine for the Packaging Market

Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences has succeeded in developing an injection mold that does not require conventional liquid-based temperature control. Heat equalization is effected by means of heat pipes instead. Mold design and heat-pipe selection are based on the outcome of thermal simulations, which yield reliable results thanks to an unconventional approach. 

Simulating Heat Flow in Injection Molds with Heat Pipes 

Prozesssimulation

Kupfer

Temperiertechnik

"No Cool" Molds, Properly Simulated 

To be able to cost efficiently design complex molds, e. g. for BMC components, it is essential to take into account the mold cooling. Thus, the mold costs increase in a linear relationship with the number of heating cartridges provided. It is therefore desirable to aim for as few cartridges as possible, but at the same time, this can have a disadvantageous effect on the homogeneity of the temperature distribution and the robustness of the process. Until now, these conflicting goals were largely resolved based on experience. But it can also be done systematically. 

Simple Answers to Complex Questions in Mold Design 

DOE-Software

Determining the Optimum Heating Concept for BMC 

The optimization of injection molding processes by using software to simulate mold filling and solidification is standard today. However, this has its limits, especially if the material properties or the flow behavior are not known with sufficient accuracy. The services offered by Beaumont, such as material testing, injection molding tests or the optimization of flow channel systems, can help here.  

MF Software Exclusively Distributes Beaumont Products in Europe 

Rheologie

Higher Productivity and Better  Process Control 

Users can now precisely simulate and design the mold temperature control already at the planning phase. 

Cooling Simulation with Temp-Flex Hoses 

Precise Simulation of Thermal Behavior 

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

Arburg has adopted a clear message for its trade fair appearance at the K 2022 in Düsseldorf: „There is only a Plan A“. Combined with extensive digitalisation, the machine manufacturer sees itself perfectly positioned to provide high-end technology for greater sustainability.

How can digitalization make a concrete contribution to resource conservation and increased production efficiency? The answer is provided by Arburg at K 2022, with examples of highly networked, digitalized manufacturing. The most important goal, namely the targeted homogeneous separation and return of plastics to the loop, is served by, e.g., marking technologies such as water marks or QR codes, which are applied to the products during the manufacturing process. Or the equipping of the Gestica control system with digital assistance systems to give all customers control over the problem of fluctuating material quality. Arburg not only addresses these topics at its own booth (bigger than ever, with 1900 m2 presentation area) but also prominently in the arburgGreenworld pavilion of the VDMA Circular Economy Forum in the courtyard of the tradeshow area.

This pavilion specifically presents Arburg’s contribution to conservation of natural resources, both within its own company and in its customers’ injection molding production. As a flagship application, “Greenline” wall plugs from Fischer, one of the market leaders in fastening systems, are manufactured on an Allrounder 370 A electrical injection molding machine with recyclate package and Multilift robot system (Fig.). The giveaway is a shining example of a successful circular economy with post-industrial recyclate (PIR). The sprue is ejected directly into a granulator, returned directly to the process as regrind and reused. By selecting a young team at the show, with many trainees, Arburg is demonstrating strikingly how important its current efforts are for coming generations.

Correspondingly, Arburg, at its main booth, is presenting technologies to allow sustainable, efficient production. Overall, eight hydraulic, hybrid and electrical machines from 350 to 6500 kN clamping force can be seen, which are automated with robot systems and in some cases integrated into complex turnkey systems. In addition, all the injection molding machines are integrated into the arburgXworld customer portal. The potentials of the Gestica control system and its assistants, such as the “aXw Control FillAssist” can also be experienced. In this context, the “Varimos” plug-in from Simcon is being unveiled, which, AI-based, shows what the effects are of changes in machine parameters.

Three exhibits are equipped with the recyclate package from Arburg: an electric Allrounder 470 A manufactures PP handles from post-consumer recyclate (PCR); a hydraulic Allrounder 270 S compact processes glass fiber-reinforced PPS recyclate into tweezers. The exhibit additionally has a secure 5G mobile communications link – a pilot project from Arburg and Telekom. A fully automatic unit centered on an Allrounder 375 V with six-axis robot and Arburg Turnkey Control Module (ATCM) produces a bicycle tool from recycled PA66/6-GF50.

A hybrid Allrounder 630 H machine equipped for packaging and cleanroom use manufactures around 18,000 transparent PET blood tubes per hour: the injection molding machine communicates with the mold, hot runner controller, material dryer and automation via the Gestica control unit and OPC UA. The “Moldlife Sense” computer system integrated into the 32-cavity mold of its partner Hack Formenbau permits monitoring throughout the complete life cycle.

In another medical technology application, an Allrounder More 1600 machine produces Luer lock connectors. This application shows the first ever use of the handling with a Yaskawa robot programmable directly via the machine control system.

Arburg shows an alternative to thermoforming with an electrical Allrounder 720 A machine. Its new size 1300 injection unit, thanks to precise AMKmotion servo motors, permits high injection volume streams. The exhibit produces thin-walled IML round cups.

A highlight in tooling technology is an Allrounder Cube 1800 with an 8+8+8-cavity cube mold with new CITI technology from the partner Foboha. The 3-component machine manufactures a functional component from PP, TPE and POM. Mold filling, cooling and part removal are performed synchronously by a six-axis robot.

One of the visitor magnets is probably the biggest exhibit: the manufacture of a high-quality toolbox of Arburg design on a hybrid Allrounder 1120 H machine with 6500 kN clamping force.

With its trade show appearance in Düsseldorf, Germany, Arburg is pursuing a clearly formulated line of communication: “There is only a Plan A.” Dr. Christoph Schumacher, Division Head of Marketing, said: “We are making clear that, where conservation of natural resources, circular economy and CO2 reduction are concerned, there cannot be a Plan B – based on the mission statement of the sustainability movement ‘There is no Planet B.’ Our message to the visitors to K 2022: We have understood the relationships, are strategically and operationally addressing the issues and making our contribution as a machine manufacture.”

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG  

https://www.arburg.com

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

2022-09-06 - Arburg

issue 06/2022

issue 05/2022

issue 04/2022

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