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

到2020年，全球结构泡沫市场预计将达到319亿美元，2015年至2020年的年增长率约为6%。美国和亚洲市场占主导地位，而欧盟市场份额约为23%（到2020年将达到74亿美元）。需求和增长是由汽车和建筑行业驱动的。主要使用的材料是聚乙烯、聚丙烯、聚苯乙烯和聚氨酯。结构泡沫成型部件具有具有相对固体外壳的蜂窝发泡核心，通过使用化学发泡剂或气体（如氮气，丁烷或二氧化碳）的注射成型形式生产。这一过程通常采用低压。结构泡沫明显比固体塑料轻，具有高强度重量比和低成本的工具。汽车行业是结构泡沫增长的主要驱动力，因为终身能源和二氧化碳的节省推动了对轻质组件的需求。因此，对表面光洁度好的厚、薄截面泡沫塑料的需求日益增长。问题-化学发泡剂会导致臭氧消耗，将根据蒙特利尔议定书逐步淘汰。丁烷和戊烷等气体具有固有的火灾风险，而N2和co2的使用相对昂贵，需要与模具一起储存。结构泡沫部件的表面光洁度相对较差，特别是在使用低注射压力时。当发泡剂被困在模具表面和零件表面之间时，零件表面有一个特征的漩涡图案。我们的大创意-流成型是一种创新的新工艺，使结构泡沫模塑轻质部件。它独特地使用自来水来发泡聚合物。我们的专利工艺通过控制水膨胀成蒸汽来产生泡沫结构。在成型周期的注射阶段，水通过一个特别设计的可更换的混合喷嘴被引入熔体。流线型提供高达40%的重量减轻，40%+循环时间减少和30%+节能。

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.