ABSTRACT
Beginning with a general discussion of tooling for plastics processing—especially molds, dies and tool design—the chapter presents, in a lucid yet elaborate manner, essential features of the most common methods of processing thermosetting plastics (namely, compression and transfer molding) and thermoplastics (namely, extrusion, injection, blowing, and calendering), besides other processes, such as thermoforming, slush molding, and spinning with focus on functioning and methodology of the processes. The significance of new developments in mold design in respect of runners and gates is discussed. All important fabrication processes are fully illustrated and lucidly explained. These include plunger injection molding, screw injection molding, foam injection molding, blown film extrusion, flat film extrusion, pipe extrusion, extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, calendering, conventional fiber spinning, electrospinning (of nanofibers), thermoforming, and casting processes. All aspects of reinforced plastics—both glass-reinforced and graphite/carbon-reinforced plastics—and their molding techniques are described and illustrated with diagrams. The processes of pultrusion, prepreg molding, reaction injection molding, resin transfer molding, conventional foaming, and syntactic foaming are presented. Rubber compounding and processing technology, including rubber reclamation and fabrication of rubber-based products, are discussed, followed by a host of other processing techniques, which include spray coating, fluidized bed coating, electrostatic spraying, smart coating, powder molding, centrifugal casting, adhesion bonding, high-frequency welding, ultrasonic welding, and plastics decorative processes (e.g., gravure printing, flexography, screen printing, in-mold decorating, embossing, electroplating, and vacuum metallizing). More recent developments in polymer fabrication and processing, such as joining polymer-metal hybrids, smart coatings, rapid prototyping/3D printing, and flex printing are also presented.
