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In plastic injection molding applications, the purpose of a PVD surface coating is to reduce wear and corrosion. The choice of coatings depend on your unique requirements. Abrasive plastic materials like glass filled with nylon or rubber require coatings with high micro-hardness. If corrosive resins are being molded, then a corrosion resistant coating is needed. Ease of part release of the molded part is always desirable and critical for end product quality.
Our PVD/DLC coatings for plastic injection mold coatings can increase tool life. This improves production length, reliability and part quality as well as reduces downtime and maintenance costs. By combining a coating with the most suitable tool steel, correctly machined and heat treated, even greater benefits and savings can be achieved. Through our close cooperation with tool makers, material suppliers and our additive manufacturing providers, eifeler is uniquely positioned to support you throughout the process and increase your total tooling performance.
Injection molding is a molding procedure whereby heated and plasticized thermoplastic or thermoset material is injected under high pressure into a relatively cool mold cavity for solidification. Injection molding is a high productivity method. However, the molds can be extremely complicated and expensive.
The performance of the mold can be affected by the selection of mold material. Performance has different meanings to different people:
The mold life may be determined by many different mechanisms:
Wear may occur because of reinforced plastic or very long runs. Surface defects may already occur during mold manufacturing as a result of polishing problems, EDM defects or after some time in production because of attacks from the plastic resin. Deformation can sometimes be a result of too high a clamping force or because of uneven temperatures in the mold or under-dimensioning of the mold. Corrosion may of course be a problem when molding corrosive resins like PVC, but may also be result of aggressive cooling water or humid atmosphere.
The quality of the plastic part is judged on its appearance but of course, also the functionality of the part. The mold must keep the promised surface finish and that is also valid for the tolerances of the mold. Steel selection is important for high polished molds. The steel must be clean and have a very low amount of inclusions. Tolerances may be affected because of uneven mold temperatures which of course is very much dependent on the cooling channel sizes and position but also on the selection of mold material. Materials like aluminum or copper alloys, with high thermal conductivity, may in some cases be used as mold material.
Productivity can sometimes be affected by the selection of mold materials and/or by the selection of the coating that is applied. The most obvious situation is the selection of high thermal conductivity materials. However, also selections aiming for lower maintenance of the mold i.e. less production interruptions, will lead to higher productivity. One example is to use corrosion resistant mold materials. This leads to less need for re-drilling of cooling channels and re-polishing of mold surfaces.
In many applications eifeler coatings should be considered to enhance mold life and improve part quality.