There are numerous types of plastics, and thousands of plastic materials have been produced in the market. The use of plastics on vertical injection molding machines is also growing.
The industry has classified plastics that can be used on vertical injection molding machines into the following categories:
- Thermoplastics: These plastics can be heated to a certain temperature and then transformed into a molten state, which is then injected into the mold for cooling and shaping. They can be reheated to their melting point and remain in a molten state. Therefore, most thermoplastics can be reused.
- Thermosetting plastics: In contrast to thermoplastics, these plastics can only be melted and transformed into a molten state once. After cooling and shaping, they cannot be melted again by reheating. Therefore, thermosetting plastics cannot be reused, and molds for such products should have smaller gate sizes.
Plastics can also be classified based on their properties and applications on vertical injection molding machines:
- General-purpose plastics: These plastics have moderate mechanical strength and are commonly used for various applications.
- Engineering plastics: Usually, these plastics have higher mechanical strength compared to general-purpose plastics, as well as superior properties such as wear resistance, corrosion resistance, heat resistance, self-lubrication, and dimensional stability. They are widely used in industries such as mechanical manufacturing, light industry, electronics, daily-use products, aerospace, and are increasingly replacing metals for certain mechanical components.
