Author: Catherine Zhu Publish Time: 04-02-2022 Origin: Site
Vacuum casting, reaction injection molding, and injection molding are all very useful processes. They are both widely used in the field of prototyping and each offers a unique set of advantages. However, since these processes share certain similarities, it can sometimes be difficult to choose between the three.
Jucheng briefly introduces some of their differences here to help our customers make better choices.
1. Different tooling materials. Vacuum casting mold materials are soft pure silicone rubber, RIM mold materials are usually silicone rubber and hard epoxy (in a few cases, ABS or aluminum), while injection molding molds are usually made of high-quality metal, mostly steel.
2. Different molding material options. Vacuum casting materials have choices of engineering plastic materials such as ABS, PC, PMMA, and PP. There is only one option for RIM materials, PU, which has higher strength and better shrinkage control properties than vacuum cast materials. Injection molding materials include ABS, PVA, TPE, POM, PA, PBT, ASA, PMMA, PPO, PPA and many other engineering materials.
3. The molding size and quantity are different. Forming size and quantity are different. Vacuum casting is generally suitable for making small-sized parts that are relatively inexpensive and quick to make with tools.
RIM is suitable for the manufacture of relatively more durable molds and larger size parts with faster setting times, such as car bumpers, large shells, large covers, etc. Both can be produced in small batches, and RIM requires shorter lead times when producing the same number of small batches.
Injection molding is the best option when very large numbers of parts are required. Although injection molding is expensive to set up (even with a fast mold), the unit cost is very low. This means that when a business requires hundreds or thousands of copies of parts, the initial setup cost is easily recouped by the savings per unit.
