A complete list of plastic molding methods, full of practical information!

Time:2025-04-25 08:27:43 / Popularity: / Source:

Injection molding

A method of producing industrial products. Products usually use rubber injection molding and plastic injection molding. Injection molding can also be divided into injection molding and die casting. Injection molding machine is main molding equipment that uses plastic molding molds to make thermoplastic plastics or thermosetting materials into plastic products of various shapes. Injection molding is achieved through injection molding machines and molds.
plastic molding 

Extrusion

Material passes through action between extruder barrel and screw, while being heated and plasticized, is pushed forward by screw, and continuously passes through head to make various cross-section products or semi-finished products.
plastic molding 

Rotational molding

Also known as rotational molding or rotational casting. This molding method is to first add a measured amount of plastic (liquid or powder) into mold, and after mold is closed, rotate it along two vertical rotation axes, and heat mold at the same time. Under action of gravity and heat energy, plastic raw materials in mold are gradually and evenly coated, melted and adhered to the entire surface of mold cavity, forming into same shape as mold cavity, then cooled, shaped, and demolded to obtain desired shape of product.
plastic molding 

Blow molding

Also known as hollow blow molding, is a rapidly developing plastic processing method. Tubular plastic preform obtained by extrusion or injection molding of thermoplastic resin is placed in a split mold while hot (or heated to a softened state). After mold is closed, compressed air is immediately introduced into preform to inflate plastic preform and tightly adhere to inner wall of mold. After cooling and demolding, various hollow products are obtained.
plastic molding 

Vacuum Forming

A plastic processing technology. Main principle is to heat and soften flat plastic hard sheet, vacuum absorb it on mold surface, and form it after cooling. It is a technical process applied to various industries.
plastic molding 
plastic molding 

Compression Molding

It is process of first placing powdered, granular or fibrous plastics into mold cavity at molding temperature, then closing mold and pressurizing it to form and solidify it. Compression molding can be used for thermosetting plastics, thermoplastics and rubber materials.
plastic molding 

Calendering

Molten plasticized thermoplastic passes through gap between two or more parallel counter-rotating rollers, so that melt is squeezed, stretched, and stretched by rollers to form a continuous sheet product with certain specifications and quality requirements, finally cooled naturally to form. Calendering process is often used in production of plastic films or sheets.
plastic molding 

Foaming Molding

It is process of adding appropriate foaming agents to foaming materials (PVC, PE and PS, etc.) to make plastics produce microporous structures. Almost all thermosetting and thermoplastic plastics can be made into foam plastics, foaming molding has become an important category in plastic processing.
plastic molding 
Micro-foaming technology flow chart
plastic molding 
Micro-foaming technology flow chart

Winding molding

Process is to wind continuous fiber (or cloth tape, pre-impregnated yarn) soaked in resin glue onto core mold according to a certain pattern, then obtain product after curing and demolding.
plastic molding 

Lamination molding

Refers to a molding method that combines multiple layers of same or different materials into a whole under heating and pressure. It is commonly used in plastic processing and also in rubber processing.
plastic molding 

Coating molding

It is a process of coating surface of a substrate such as cloth or paper with a plastic sol or an organic sol to make imitation leather products, varnished cloth or plastic wallpaper, or coating powdered plastic on a metal surface. Common plastic coated products include artificial leather, varnished cloth, plastic wallpaper and various metal coated products.

Casting molding

It is a method of plastic processing. In the early stage of casting, liquid monomers or prepolymers were injected into mold under normal pressure, polymers were polymerized and solidified to form products with same shape as inner cavity of mold. In the 1960s, nylon monomer casting and polyamide appeared. With development of molding technology, traditional concept of casting has changed. Polymer solutions, dispersions, polyvinyl chloride pastes and melts can also be used for casting.
plastic molding 

Drop molding

Technology uses state-variable characteristics of thermoplastic polymer materials, that is, they have viscous flow under certain conditions, and can restore solid state at room temperature. It uses appropriate methods and special tools to spray ink, molds them into designed shape according to requirements in their viscous flow state, then solidifies them at room temperature.
plastic molding 

Cold press molding

It is a type of compression molding. Unlike ordinary compression molding, material is pressurized and molded at room temperature. Molded product after demolding can be heated again or matured by chemical action.
plastic molding 

Compression molding

Mainly used for production of thermosetting plastic products. Molding is heated to melt, pressurized to punch mold, then heated to cross-link and solidify, and product is obtained after demolding.
plastic molding 

Resin transfer molding

It is a process method that injects resin into a closed mold to infiltrate reinforcing material and solidify it. This technology can eliminate need for prepreg and autoclave, effectively reducing equipment costs and molding costs.
This technology has developed rapidly in recent years and has been widely used in the fields of aircraft industry, automobile industry, shipbuilding industry, etc., has developed multiple branches such as RFI, VARTM, SCRIMP, SPRINT, etc. to meet application needs of different fields.
plastic molding 

Extrusion

It is a pressure processing method that uses a punch or a punch to pressurize blank placed in die to produce plastic flow, thereby obtaining a product with a shape corresponding to die hole or concave and convex mold of mold. During extrusion, blank produces three-dimensional compressive stress, and even blank with lower plasticity can be extruded.
plastic molding 

Thermoforming

It is a special plastic processing method for processing thermoplastic plastic sheets into various products. A special plastic processing method for processing thermoplastic plastic sheets into various products. Sheet is clamped on frame and heated to a softened state. Under action of external force, it is pressed against mold surface to obtain a shape similar to mold surface. After cooling and shaping, it is trimmed to form a product.
plastic molding 
plastic molding 

Hand lay-up molding

Also known as manual pasting molding and contact molding, it refers to process of manually working on a mold coated with a release agent, that is, laying reinforcing materials while brushing resin until required thickness of plastic product is reached, then obtaining plastic product through curing and demolding.
plastic molding 

Laser Rapid Prototyping (LRP)

It is a new manufacturing technology that integrates advanced technologies such as CAD, CAM, CNC, laser, precision servo drive and new materials. Compared with traditional manufacturing methods, it has following advantages: high replicability and interchangeability of prototypes; manufacturing process is independent of geometric shape of manufacturing prototype; short processing cycle and low cost, generally reducing manufacturing costs by 50% and shortening processing cycle by more than 70%; high technical integration to achieve integrated design and manufacturing.
plastic molding 

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

This process is to extrude a filament of a filament of a thermoplastic, wax or metal from a heated nozzle, melt deposit it at a fixed rate according to predetermined trajectory of each layer of part.
plastic molding 

CNC

Computer Numerical Control Machine Tool is an automated machine tool equipped with a program control system. Control system can logically process programs specified by control codes or other symbolic instructions and decode them to enable machine tool to move and process parts.
plastic molding 

3D printing (3DP)

It is a kind of rapid prototyping technology. It is a technology that uses a digital model file as basis and uses bondable materials such as powdered metal or plastic to construct objects by printing layer by layer. 3D printing is usually achieved using digital technology material printers. It is often used to make models in the fields of mold manufacturing, industrial design, etc., and later gradually used for direct manufacturing of some products. There are already parts printed using this technology.
plastic molding 
There are many different technologies for 3D printing. They differ in the way they build and create parts in different layers using available materials. Commonly used materials for 3D printing include nylon glass fiber, polylactic acid, ABS resin, durable nylon material, gypsum material, aluminum material, titanium alloy, stainless steel, silver plating, gold plating and rubber materials.

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