Know Why Foam Injection is Ideal for Lightweight Plastic Parts

Nobody is unaware of the fact that there are many such fields where it’s impossible to replace plastic products, and it is simply because of some unmatched characteristics of this material. Plastic is a durable and light-weighted material, which also possesses decent strength and the ability to withstand harsh circumstances. So, it’s fair to say that plastic is an irreplaceable material in many fields.

Coming to the point, we are here talking about Foam Injection Molding, which is considered to be a reliable alternative for the production of lightweight plastic products with maximum strength. But before we start exploring the major benefits of this production method, let’s first try to understand the process in order to find out how it is different from traditional injection molding methods.

Process: If talking about the process, Foam Injection Molding is similar to normal injection molding methods, but with a couple of differences. In this method, the melted polymer is injected into the mold, but an inert gas is also added to the polymer, which acts as a chemical blowing agent. This inert gas expands and gives foam-like core structure to the end products. Apart from that, low-pressure is used for injecting the polymer, which provides enough time for expansion to the chemical blowing agent.

Benefits: Now, let’s talk about why Foam Injection Molding is ideal for the production of lightweight plastic parts. For this, you first need to understand why a chemical blowing agent is added to the melted polymer. It simply helps to provide a foam-like core structure to the final products, which is why end products are around 10 to 30 percent light-weighted compared to entirely solid plastic parts. Apart from being light-weighted, plastic parts built through this method have decent strength and stiffness as well because the outer walls of the end products remain thick and solid.

So basically, it’s an ideal option for the production of plastic parts with a high strength-to-weight ratio, which makes it suitable to build strong products with minimum strength. Apart from that, error chances are also very low when we use automated machinery for foam injection plastic molding.