What is plastic injection molding? The basic definition is a manufacturing method for creating parts using thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials.
What is the process? The plastic material is fed into a heated drum, mixed, and then forcefully fed into a mold where it then cools and harden. The result is a shaped plastic part in the exact form as the mold cavity.
How is the injection mold made? First a mold is designed by an injection mold designer using design tools such as CAD (Computer Aided Design). Once the design is finalized the molds are made by a mold-maker (aka toolmaker) using steel or aluminum. The mold is then precision-machined to shape the detailed features of the part.
Who uses injection molding? It is widely used for manufacturing anything plastic from toys to military equipment to automobile parts. It is a process by which plastic parts can be made in large numbers in a relatively short period of time. Such injection molding parts may be very small or very large. This process also allows for very simple or very complex geometric shapes and details.