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Article: Water-assisted molding showing promise.(companies in Austria, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. are developing and debuting water injected plastic molding equipment)(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
- Article from:
- Plastics News
- Article date:
- March 11, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Water-assisted injection molding is moving past its status as a tech-paper darling, as equipment companies rolled out commercial versions during trade shows last year.
The technology, a cousin to gas-assisted molding, injects a shot of pressurized water into the mold to pack out the melted plastic, then cool it off quickly. Suppliers say water can find a niche in large hollow parts, and especially in long, rod-shaped parts with thick walls or long flow paths.
``This is difficult to do with gas-assisted molding,'' said Helmut Eckardt, technical director of Battenfeld GmbH of Meinerzhagen, Germany.
The automotive coolant duct became the poster ...