Enhancing the performance of your injection molding machine leads to reduced defects, improved efficiency, and an overall better production quality. Our proven strategies will help you reach consistent and excellent outputs.
Plastic injection molding is a common form of manufacturing and therefore a very competitive field. To meet today’s high standards and stay ahead it is necessary to overcome obstacles such as corrosion, wear, and inefficient heat transfer. Only once your process is completely set up can you guarantee optimal performance and product quality.
In our article we’ve outlined five proven approaches that will improve the results of your injection molding machine. By applying AMPCO’s longstanding metallurgical expertise, stemming from the work with engineered alloys, you’ll be able to enhance your machine’s efficiency, improve part quality, and optimize production cycles, with reduced downtime and costs.
Preventing Corrosion for Long-Lasting Mold Performance
Corrosion is a common issue that can degrade the performance of injection molds, leading to defects, higher maintenance costs, and reduced tool life. Factors such as moisture, corrosive materials, and inadequate care are often the cause. To prevent corrosion and ensure long-lasting mold performance, it is recommended to do the following:
- Choose corrosion-resistant materials
Use high-performance materials, which are designed to resist corrosion in demanding injection molding processes. AMPCO’s alloys are great examples of such materials.
- Implement regular maintenance
Clean molds thoroughly after each production cycle to remove residues, impurities and moisture. Applying protective coatings can further guard against corrosion, even when the injection molding machine is in storage.
- Monitor environmental conditions
Maintain a controlled production environment by minimizing exposure to humidity and ensuring proper ventilation around molds.
Corroded part of an injection mold
Reducing Wear and Tear by Decreasing Friction
Excessive friction during plastic injection molding leads to faster wear, increased maintenance, and lower efficiency. To reduce these effects, consider:
- Using materials with a low coefficient of friction
Use copper-based alloys that are renowned for their low-friction properties. These materials reduce wear in various moving parts ensuring smoother operation and longer component lifespan.
- Ensure proper lubrication
While copper-based alloys naturally reduce friction, using the correct lubricant designed for these materials can further enhance their performance and prevent unnecessary wear. Some lubricants even help in preventing corrosion. This ensures both the molds and moving components remain in optimal condition.
You can also read more about reducing wear in the dedicated section of the AMPCO website.
Important notice: Always make sure that lubricating is compatible with your application! In many cases the use of lubricants is prohibited, since lubricants and their vapors mustn’t enter the cavities!
Part of an injection molding machine with visible wear and tear near the cavity
Improving Heat Conductivity to Minimize Cycle Times
Efficient heat transfer is crucial for optimizing the injection molding process. Poor heat conductivity in mold components can cause uneven cooling, longer cycle times, and leads to higher energy consumption. In addition to making the cooling procedure as fast as possible, it is also necessary to ensure that the molded parts cool evenly, which maintains consistent quality. Our recommendations to improve heat conductivity are:
- Use high-thermal-conductivity materials
Focus on alloys that have excellent heat transfer properties, which ensures accelerated and uniform cooling in molds. This reduces cycle time and provides a constant quality of the molded plastic parts.
- Upgrade cooling components
Improve conventional cooling channels with alloys that enable faster heat dissipation and prevent hot spots, improving the overall efficiency of your injection molding machine.
The low alloyed copper alloys produced by AMPCO display excellent thermal conductivity and compared to tool steels or even high thermal conductivity steels (HTCS) cool considerably quicker. A perfect example is the AMPCOLOY® 944, which was specifically designed for injection molds.
Comparison of heat dissipation with steels
Enhancing Durability of Your Injection Molding Machine
Durability is essential for maintaining consistent production and minimizing downtime in injection molding machines. To strengthen your machine’s longevity, we advise:
- Choosing high-strength mold materials
Prefer alloys with superior mechanical properties, that have been engineered to handle the pressure and stress of demanding injection molding cycles without deformation.
- Preventing thermal fatigue
Incorporate materials with high thermal stability to withstand temperature fluctuations, ensuring mold components remain reliable under demanding conditions.
By selecting robust materials and focusing on thermal resilience, you can extend your machine’s lifespan, reduce maintenance costs, and ensure consistent production quality.
A robust mold significantly increases durability
Increasing Precision and Quality with Improved
Mold Materials
Precision and consistency are critical for molding plastic, directly influencing the quality and performance of the final products. For optimal results adopt these approaches:
- Use materials with dimensional stability
Using mold materials that resist distortion ensures precision during production, maintaining tight tolerances even when producing high volumes.
- Focus on the surface finish
High-quality mold materials allow for smoother surface finishes, reducing the need for additional processing and enhancing the aesthetics and functionality of molded parts. Also, when producing certain injection molding products like plastic displays for TVs, PCs, etc., it is essential that the surface result is according to specifications immediately after molding as these parts can’t be reworked.
Equipment for manufacturing products with high precision
To achieve high-quality results from your injection molding machine you need to make smart choices and adopt a detail-oriented approach for every process. Preventing corrosion, minimizing wear, optimizing heat conductivity, and focusing on precision are vital steps in maintaining optimal performance. Of course, the importance of selecting the right thermoplastics as well as components shouldn’t be overlooked, as the material properties influence mold performance and product quality.
By combining these methods with a commitment to continuous improvement, you can reduce downtime, increase efficiency, and achieve exceptional results in every production cycle. If you are looking for more information that will help you improve your injection molding results, you can visit our AMPCO Academy. Or you can get in touch with our professional team and request specific guidance.
