All Electric & Hybrid Machines
Lightweight TP Composite Takes the Driver's Seat
A lightweight version of Azdel glass-reinforced polypropylene sheet is gaining ground in a host of new automotive applications.
Read MoreIn-Mold Lamination: U.S. Auto Market Is Catching Up
Although more widely used in Europe, in-mold laminating is gaining a foothold in U.S. automotive interiors. Molders can choose from a handful of different process technologies that promise labor and other cost savings.
Read MoreAutomotive Innovation Trend-Setting Technologies Garner SPE Awards
Paintless in-mold film decorating and carbon-fiber composites are making inroads in appearance and structural parts. Blow molding is finding new interior applications. And long-fiber thermoplastics are cutting weight and cost on the inside and outside of new passenger vehicles.
Read More'Soft-on-Soft' Is Newest Option In Soft-Touch Molding
It's hailed as a breakthrough for soft-touch injection molding: Collaborative efforts by three companies have resulted in the commercialization of an SEBS-based TPE vehicle handle in which a very soft (28 Shore A) surface layer is coinjected onto a substrate of a firmer—but still soft and rubbery—60 Shore A compound.
Read MorePVDF Latex Foam CompositesProvide High Flame Resistance
A new patent-pending technology developed by AtoFina Chemicals in Philadelphia creates highly flame-resistant foams of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fluoropolymer without the use of blowing agents or melt processing.
Read MoreMicro Molds Make Micro Parts
Molded parts barely visible to the naked eye require non-traditional methods for making high-precision micro-injection molds. Micro-tooling R&D is being led by technology institutes, research firms, and a few highly specialized mold makers.
Read MoreArburg Moves into Mid-Sized Presses And Electric/Hydraulic Hybrids
A move to larger machine sizes and the introduction of an electric/ hydraulic hybrid series were announced recently by injection machine builder Arburg, Inc.
Read MoreTwo New Ideas for Injection Molding Unveiled at ANTEC Meeting
A new method of coinjection molding dissimilar materials was presented at this year's SPE Annual Technical Conference in San Francisco.
Read MoreInjection Molding Technologies Advance At Structural Plastics Show
A simpler approach to in-mold film decorating was one new injection molding capability presented at the SPI Structural Plastics show and conference.
Read MoreLong-Glass Leader-How Faurecia Helped Put TP Composites In the Driver's Seat
Europe's third largest automotive molder, Faurecia, uses five different long-glass thermoplastic molding processes, more than any other molder in the world. It invented half of them, including the world's first in-line compounding- and-injection process.
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