Polycarbonate (PC) Injection Molding Services

• Excellent impact strength
• Can withstand temperature change, rain sunlight, etc.
• Heat-resistant
• Wide operating temperature range
• Good electrical insulation
• Dimensionally stable
• Low shrinkage rate
• Odorless & tasteless
• High transparency
• Good chemical properties
• Good dielectric properties

Medical Parts

Polycarbonate is suitable for sterilization using steam autoclaving, ethylene oxide, and irradiation. It also has optical clarity and thermal resistance. Therefore, polycarbonate can be used for producing incubators, syringes, catheters, blood separators, dental appliances, and other medical products.

Automotive Products

Since polycarbonate can withstand impact, temperatures, and UV light, it is commonly used for car headlights and other automotive parts.

Lenses

Due to the optical clarity of polycarbonate, it can be used for producing film projector lenses, optical test instruments, laser beam printer lenses, multi-faceted mirrors, prisms, and many more.

Food Processing Machine

Polycarbonate can be used for producing parts used in food processing machines. Parts such as vacuum cleaner components, power tool housings, freezer drawers, brackets, bodies, and more.

PC injection molding can also produce these plastic products:

• Kitchenware
• Construction materials
• Smartphone parts
• DVDs
• Aircraft parts
• Other consumer products

Produces Products with Highly Precise Tolerances

The injection molding process is controlled precisely. The molds are also designed according to the required tolerances. PC injection molded products can have ± 0.1 mm of consistent tolerances.

Fast Cycle Times

Compared with vacuum forming and other machining processes, PC injection molding is fast. And because it can produce more PC products in a specific time, the price per product will also be reduced.

Suitable for Producing Various Sizes

PC injection molding can produce PC products in a wide range of sizes. Almost any size is possible.

Mass Production

Injection molding can mass-produce complex PC products. It has a high production rate that leads to lower costs per product.

Prevents Surface Defects

To ensure the clarity of PC products such as car headlights, their molds can be polished. Polishing their molds can make the products have a smooth surface.

Variety of Shapes & Designs

Injection molding includes insert and over-molding to produce multi-material products. It also followed the Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles in order to create PC products in various designs.

Reduced Labor Cost

Since PC injection molding is an automated process, it needs very little to no human intervention. Due to that, labor costs will also be reduced.

Effective Use of Raw Materials

The process of injection molding uses raw materials efficiently. It only fills the injection mold with the required and accurate material amount. And the little amount of material or waste present in the runners can also be recycled. Therefore, PC injection molding has very minimal wastage.

Heating and Cooling Rapidly

Because of the teperature difference, injecting melted PC pellets into the mold will form a thin layer on the mold’s surface. This thin layer can form surface flaws such as weld lines. To prevent that formation, heating the mold before injecting will be done. After that, it will be cooled rapidly.

Compression Injection Molding

Producing thick-walled PC products is also hard when the typical injection molding process is used since it may form sink marks on the product. Therefore, compression injection molding is done to solve that issue. This process is done by injecting molten PC in a particular amount into the mold. Then, the mold will be closed to pressed the molten PC into the desired shape. This process will also  lessen internal stresses.

Water-Assisted Injection Molding

Producing large, hollow, or thin-walled PC products through injection molding is hard. And in these situations, water-assisted injection molding will be done. This process utilizes high-pressure water for pressing the PC material against the mold’s sides. As a result, the PC parts will have smooth internal surface and even thickness.

Overmolding

Overmolding or insert molding process can be done if you need multi-material products. This process works by injecting molded PC over the existing product that is placed into the injection mold.

To make sure that the PC products suit the end-use requirements, guidelines will be followed.

Surface Finish

PC products can be finished with high-gloss, gloss, and matte finishes. A matte finish is applicable for products that need reduced glare and a soft image. The non-glossy finish is also suitable for screw caps and other products.

Rib Thickness

To add more durability to PC parts, thickening the ribs can be done. The rib thickness can be  0.5 – 0.6 times the adjoining wall thickness.

Wall Thickness

PC parts with complicated geometries and thin walls are possible with injection molding. 1mm is typically the suggested minimum wall thickness. 3.8mm is also the maximum wall thickness. However, there are injection molding processes that support thick-walled PC parts such as compression injection molding.

In injection molding, the polycarbonate material can also be added with various fillers such as:

• Carbon fiber filler
• Glass filler

If you want more durable polycarbonate products, a little amount of additives such as stainless steel fiber can be added.