Designed for advanced process techs and engineers, our advanced Scientific SkillSet™ courses build on the skills developed in the intermediate labs. In these advanced, hands-on courses, participants learn how to quickly and effectively optimize a scientific injection molding process.
Each online video course/worksheet combination in this group builds an important processing-related skill. These skills are demonstrated on your production equipment — without costly seminars or the inconveniece of travel.
1st Stage Fill Progression
In this lab, participants learn how the mold actually fills. Problem areas are identified and recorded on the lab worksheet. The participant performs a series of short shots to identify how the polymer flows through the gate, fills the cavity, and reaches the end of fill.
1st Stage Rheology Curve
In-Mold Rheology allows you to gain extremely valuable rheological information about your mold and material without any special laboratory equipment. Participants determine an optimal 1st stage filing time for a given mold — by determining the injection time at which shear thinning occurs.
1st Stage Cavity Imbalance
Mold filling imbalances contribute to unwanted variations in the molding process. The purpose of this test is to determine the injection speed that provides the optimal cavity filing balance.
Coolant Temperature
The purpose of this lab is to determine the lowest temperature which produces acceptable parts. Participants establish the optimal mold coolant temperature controller settings and log their results.
Cooling Time
In this SkillSet™ training lab, participants evaluate their process to determine an optimized cooling time, while compensating for normal variations in the molding process.
Rear Zone Temperature
Participants must determine a rear zone temperature that provides the best overall material conveyance during screw recovery. A correctly-set rear zone temperature conserves energy and maximizes the process’s melting capacity.
Mold Opening
Proper mold open settings minimize the distance the mold opens while safely increasing the mold open speed. In this lab, participants learn to configure both the speed and distance of mold opening — to optimize clamp settings while protecting part quality.
Part Ejection
Here, participants learn why part removal settings are essential to maintaining an efficient process. The goal of this exercise is to minimize the time and energy required to remove the part — while protecting both the part and mold.
Mold Closing
Proper mold close settings are essential to process optimization. In this course, participants learn to optimize the clamp settings while protecting the mold and actions.
Mold Protect Force
Proper mold protect settings are critical to both employee safety and mold welfare. In this exercise. participants learn to set the mold protect force correctly — to help prevent the mold from clamping on a stuck part and to reduce the potential for damage when ejection problems occur.
Comparative Rheology
Dealing with plastic material variation is inevitable in the injection molding industry. In this lab, participants learn how to analyze and quantify these variations — comparing materials, grades, lots, additives, temperatures, etc. and recording their findings.
Measuring Mold Deflection
Excessive mold deflection makes it difficult to establish and maintain a reliable injection molding process. This test determines the average mold deflection over a series of 5 cycles. The information they record in this lab is extremely useful for benchmarking and troubleshooting mold deflection issues.
Measuring Platen Deflection
Excessive platen deflection can make your processes unreliable. Here, participants learn how to benchmark and troubleshoot platen deflection issues on your facility’s injection molding machines.