Resource- and cost-efficient lightweight design

07.11.2016

More than 230 plastics processors visited the ENGEL UK technology centre in Warwick to learn about the possibilities and opportunities offered by MuCell foam injection moulding. This made the two-day event one of the best attended seminars on this topic in the injection moulding machine manufacturer's global training programme. ENGEL had issued the invitation in collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover and other partners.

Together, the companies demonstrated the potential that this technology has for carmakers and their suppliers. "MuCell offers the opportunity of combining resource-efficient lightweight design with a high degree of cost efficiency and excellent component properties," as Graeme Herlihy, the CEO of ENGEL UK points out. "This combination will ensure that the process continues to rapidly gain importance."

Under the ENGEL foammelt banner, ENGEL offers single source production cells for MuCell structural foam moulding. ENGEL imports MuCell systems from Trexel, USA, for its customers, handling control and safety integration with the injection moulding machine, and offering application-specific consulting. This makes implementing the technology really easy.

Jaguar Land Rover and Plastivaloire point out large application potential

The keynote topics at the event included MuCell-compliant component design, filling simulations, creating premium surfaces in the MuCell process, and the cost-efficiency of the process. Michael Fischer from ENGEL AUSTRIA, Harald Heitkamp from Trexel and Fabien Buchy from Mouldex3D presented innovative solutions and offered a sneak preview of future challenges and developments. Ian Ray from Jaguar Land Rover and Dominique Manceau from Plastivaloire in France reported on the potential for their products.

The keynotes clearly illustrated how structural foam injection moulding transcends the limits of compact injection moulding and opens up new degrees of design freedom. Components produced in structural foam injection moulding have proven to be highly dimensionally stable, and are free of sink marks. Because foaming enhances the flow properties of the melt, even challenging geometries with undercuts are completely filled. At the same time, foaming reduces the material use and the component weight – by up to 20 percent for the product examples on show.

Live demonstration with dual technology integration

In a live demonstration at the technology centre, ENGEL took up one of the latest trends: the combination of MuCell with other process technologies. To manufacture ready-to-use components in high-gloss piano black, both ENGEL foammelt and ENGEL variomelt for vario-thermal mould temperature control were integrated with an ENGEL e‑victory 120 injection moulding machine with an integrated ENGEL viper 6 robot. Sample parts were injected during the event. Among other applications, this dual technology integration opens up new efficiency and quality horizons for interior applications.

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