Q. What is reaction injection molding?
A. Reaction injection molding (RIM) is a rapid injection moulding process that highly reactive plastic liquids are mixed under low pressure and then injected into a mold to react, cure, and turn into unreinforced thermoset parts.
Q. What are the materials for reaction injection molding?
A. The material for reaction injection molding is called PU (polyurethane). X Rapid Technologies usually use HD RIM4210/1100 PU, YU-Heng RIM5236 PU, and AXSON RIM875/900 PU. The properties of RIM parts are usually ABS-like or PP-like.
Let us know your specific material requirement. We will choose the most appropriate material for you.
Q. What are the finishings for reaction injection molding?
A. All those surface treatments available for plastic parts can be done to RIM parts, for instance, de-burring, sanding, painting, UV coating, laser etching, silk screening, electroplating, etc.
Q. What is the lead time of reaction injection molding?
A. The lead time is usually 7 to 30 days mainly depending on the quantities and finishings. X Rapid Technologies will calculate the expected lead time while quoting. If you have a tight time range, let us know.
Q. How does reaction injection molding work?
A. The RIM process can be simplified as follows: storage → metering → mixing → mold filling → curing → demolding → surface treatment.
Q. Is there a minimum order quantity for reaction injection molding?
A. We don’t have a minimum order quantity for RIM. However, if you only want a one-off prototype, RIM is not economical.
Q. What are the applications of reaction injection molding?
A. RIM is commonly employed in low volume manufacturing, low volume injection molding, test tooling, and rapid prototype injection moulding. It is suitable for small batch trial production or test tooling in product development, short-run production, simple-structured coverings, and large thick-walled and uneven wall thickness plastic products.
Q. Can I use reaction injection molding to make prototype plastic parts?
A. Sure, you can use RIM to make prototype plastic parts. Instead of low volume production, it is a rapid prototype injection molding process to create plastic parts. In the automotive industry, for example, one test often requires hundreds of prototypes during rapid prototyping. In this case, RIM is more cost-effective and faster than traditional plastic injection molding.
Q. Why reaction injection molding?
A. When it comes to low-volume plastic injection molding, RIM is cost-effective and fast with great design flexibility. You can modify your design after the first trial of low-volume injection molding.
Q. What are the differences between reaction injection molding and vacuum casting?
A. You may notice that the material used for RIM and vacuum casting is called PU. The main difference is that the part sizes are different. RIM is used to make larger plastic enclosures for low-volume manufacturing, such as automotive bumpers, medical device cases, and large-sized robots. Vacuum casting is primarily used in low-volume manufacturing of relatively small plastic (ABS, PC, acrylic, etc.) and soft rubber components.
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