Acceptance Testing for Thermoplastic Injection Molds

Abstract

The injection molding process is the most important of all plastics processing processes due to its variety of uses and applications. The primary element of an injection molding process is the mold itself. Molds are expensive pieces of equipment that often cause their share of problems due to improper acceptance procedures. This research was limited to thermoplastic injection molds. The data was collected through interviews by phone. Practices with professionals during the acceptance process of a mold were discussed to gather an insight of the current situation. The results pointed out that many companies should implement and improve their acceptance procedures to avoid delays and money losses due to an improper methodology. A methodology was provided for molders based on scientific molding tests and it was evidenced that an acceptance procedure is needed for new molds. Key Terms ⎯ Acceptance testing, mold, plastic processing, scientific molding.