An new approach to creating light-weight plastic parts with good surface finish using tap water to create structural foam mouldings - Streamould -

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The global structural foam market is expected to reach $31.9 Billion by 2020, with annualizedgrowth of ~6% between 2015 & 2020. US & Asian markets dominate, while EU market shareis ~23% of this ($7.4bn by 2020). Demand & growth is driven by the automotive &construction sectors. The major materials used are polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene,and polyurethane. .Structural foam moulded parts have a cellular foamed core with a relatively solid skin outer,produced by a form of injection moulding using a chemical blowing agent or gas such asnitrogen, butane or carbon dioxide. The process usually employs low pressure. Structuralfoam is significantly lighter than solid plastics, with high strength-to-weight ratio and lowercost tooling. The automotive sector is the main driver to structural foam growth as lifetimeenergy & CO2 savings drive the need for light weight components. So there is growingdemand for thick & thin section foam mouldings with good surface finish.Problem – Chemical blowing agents cause ozone depletion & will be phased out under theMontreal Protocol. Gases such as butane & pentane are an inherent fire risk, while N2 & CO2are relatively expensive to use, require storage alongside the mould m/c. Structural foam partssuffer from relatively poor surface finish especially when low injection pressure is used. Partsurfaces have a characteristic swirl pattern caused when the blowing agent becomes trappedbetween the mold surface & skin of the part.Our Big Idea - Streamoulding is an innovative new process to make structural foam mouldedlight-weight parts. It uniquely uses tap water to foam polymer. Our patented process producesa foam structure by controlled expansion of water to steam. Water is introduced into the meltduring the injection phase of the moulding cycle through a specially designed retro-fitreplacement mixing nozzle. Streamoulding offers up to 40% weight saving, 40%+ cycle timereduction & 30%+ energy savings.