Injection Moulding

A crucial factor in the injection molding process is the choice of suitable tool steel. The tools used for injecting plastic must meet demanding requirements: they need to be not only durable but also capable of efficiently dissipating heat to enable short cycle times. A leading provider of high-quality tool steels for the injection molding process is the Swiss Steel Group.

In addition to a broad range of globally established standard steels of the highest quality, we also offer steel with special properties for injection molding tools. Representing the overall range, the following steel is highlighted:

Formadur® PH X Superclean is an extremely corrosion-resistant, precipitation-hardenable, and remelted steel with outstanding polishability and weldability. Typical applications for this highly pure steel include headlight molds for the automotive industry, eyeglass lenses, or components in the chemical industry or aerospace.

Formadur® PH 42 Superclean is a hardenable, remelted plastic mold steel that exhibits outstanding properties in polishability, weldability, as well as very good toughness and etchability. The steel is particularly suitable for highly stressed plastic injection molds.

Corroplast® is a low-carbon, stainless tool steel that can be machined with less effort than any other known stainless plastic mold steel. As Corroplast® is delivered with a hardness of 320 HB, it does not require additional heat treatment. Corroplast® is used for mold frames and plastic molds with standard requirements for polishability that need resistance to sweating and cooling water.

Cryodur® 2709 is characterized by excellent properties in toughness, polishability, etchability, and weldability. The martensitic hardenable cold work steel is used for complex, extremely bend-stressed mold cores and molds.

Cryodur® 2357 is a steel with good toughness even at high hardness. Due to its alloy composition, the steel is suitable for air hardening up to medium wall thicknesses, and larger cross-sections are to be quenched in oil. The good polishability combined with high wear resistance and good compressive strength makes the steel universally applicable in mold construction.

Injection molding is the predominant process for producing molded parts from thermoplastics and is also used in processing thermosets and elastomers. This process allows for the production of small parts such as watch gears to large parts like bumpers or fenders for automobiles. In injection molding, molten plastic is injected into a tool that forms the mold cavity. Here, the plastic takes on the desired shape and cools down. The surface quality of the final product manufactured through the injection molding process is significantly influenced by three factors: the type of plastic used, the process parameters, and the injection molding tool.

The fundamental tasks of the injection mold are to receive, distribute, shape, cool, and thereby transform the melt into a solid state, as well as to eject the molded part. The right steel for the thermal design of the tool is crucial because differences in the tool surface temperature or in the wall thickness can lead to different cooling conditions, thus affecting the properties of the molded parts.