Recent Advances on Fluid Assisted Injection Molding Technique

Fluid assisted injection molding (FAIM) technique greatly improves the quality of the molded plastic articles through the introduction of pressurized fluid. The FAIM has two main realizations: the gas assisted injection molding (GAIM) and the water assisted injection molding (WAIM). The characteristics and practical applications of GAIM and WAIM are discussed in detail in this article. Besides that, several optimization techniques of GAIM and WAIM are also briefly introduced, including cooling gas assisted method, vibrated gas-assist molding method, plastic expulsion process (PEP) method, external gas assisted method, and WAIM-GAIM method. For each method, the article quotes one or several patents to illustrate its features. Finally, the future development of the FAIM technique is also discussed. Keywords: Cooling, fluid assisted, gas assisted, injection molding, plastic expulsion process, vibrated gas, water assisted.