Injection molding is a manufacturing process that involves injecting molten plastic into a mold (also known as “tooling”) and fast chilling it to create a large number of pieces repeatedly and at a low cost. To ensure that you are employing the optimal process for your needs, this article will go over some of the key injection molding benefits for aerospace firms, as well as other possibilities to consider based on your specific circumstances.
Precision is required for aerospace injection molded parts to meet safety and performance standards. With experience in high-performance and engineering thermoplastics for aircraft, professional injection molding service can solve any problem. Manufacturing with aerospace plastics often involves injection molding.Â
Advantages of Injection Molding for Aerospace
Injection molding can be used for a wide range of aircraft parts, from the inside to the outside and everything in between. Some common applications include:
- Aerospace Interior Parts
- Aircraft Seat Back Screen Frames
- Electronics and control systems
- Light Bulb Housings
- Tray tables
- Armrests, bins and other plastic parts
- Structural components
The materials used for aerospace injection molding vary depending on the part, but there are numerous possibilities, for example: ABS+PC for production tooling, PC+PBT for drone remote control shells, toy airplane control shells, Steel for airplane structural components
The benefits of injection molding for aircraft are fairly comparable to those of other industries:
1. Large Quantities at Low Costs
By far one of the most significant advantages of injection molding is its capacity to produce a huge number of parts quickly. Furthermore, this reduces the cost per part greatly.
2. Tight Tolerance
Steel production tooling may provide exceptionally tight tolerances as low as +/-0.001″. This means you can manufacture a huge number of pieces with little variation in quality and/or dimensions.
3. Customized Tooling
Because the tooling can be customized to your exact specifications, you can produce unique and detailed designs on a large scale.Â
4. A Wide Variety of Materials
Injection molding can work with a wide range of plastic materials, which is why it has so many uses in aerospace parts. These materials contain the following:
- Nylon PC/ABS blends
- Materials include polycarbonate and polypropylene
- Polyethylene, PBT, glass-filled nylon, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
- High-density Polyethylene (HDPE)
- Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
- Acetal (delrin)
- Soft durometer materials
- Tried and True Method
It’s a production technique that aerospace businesses have tried and proven to be dependable.Â
Plastic Injection Molding
The conventional injection molding setup includes a mold with a cavity inside it. The cavity is a precise negative representation of the part’s intended geometry, with a few tolerances for thermal shrinkage and draft angle. A feeding device melts the raw material (plastic granules) before injecting the molten plastic into the mold cavity under high pressure. Finally, after the plastic has solidified, the mold opens and an ejection mechanism removes the part. This concludes the injection molding cycle.
Overmolding
Overmolding, often called two-shot molding, is a particular injection molding method that combines two plastic parts into one. First, ordinary injection molding creates the item. The second component is known as the overmold. Hence the term ‘overmolding’. Overmolding is a beneficial technique when the part performs better as a composite of two materials. For example, latches in aircraft items must have a robust core but a rougher, softer exterior surface. Furthermore, overmolding produces robust parts because the substrate and overmold form a chemical link.Â
Conclusion
This concludes our productive conversation about aerospace injection molding. It is one of the most useful aerospace production tools. Contact FirstMold for aerospace injection molding and other aerospace manufacturing needs. FirstMold’s integrated approach to design, prototyping, and production enables you to get your concept to market more quickly and cost-effectively.
