Restraint of Voids Generated Inside Injection Molded Products by In-Mold Pressing Method

Abstract

In recent years, long glass fiber reinforced plastic and carbon fiber reinforced plastic have begun to be used for structural components that require high strength. As a result, thick-walled injection molded products are being manufactured. However, defects, known as voids, are generated inside the molded product and decrease the strength of the molded product, posing a significant problem at molding production sites. The partial compression method, which is a type of injection compression molding, is effective in preventing voids in thick-walled injection molding. However, there have been limited studies that comprehensively investigated the effects of the compression conditions on void prevention in thick-walled injection molding products or the shape and dimension of the molded product, or the issues in the molded product produced by applying compression. The authors have previously proposed the in-mold pressing (IMP) method, which allows the application of partial compression without the use of an injection compression molding machine and verified its validity. In this study, we proposed a compression device in which a servomotor-driven hydraulic pump actuator is used to propel a movable rod to apply compression to the melt inside the mold cavity. The IMP method using this device was applied to mold thick-walled products with thicknesses of 10 mm and greater, and the effects of compression on the generation of voids inside the molded product and the shape and dimensions of the product were investigated. The results indicate that the generation of voids can be prevented by application of this method. In addition, it was found that marginal deformations, which can pose issues, occur in the molded product when compressive stresses generated inside the molded product by compression are released after demolding.