May 10, 2016 - Piper Plastics, a provider of high performance polymer materials and precision machined plastic components and assemblies, has developed a proprietary high pressure molding technology that yields near net shape polymers up to 2” thick without porosity, voids or sinks.
The process, which utilizes molding equipment designed and developed by Piper Plastics, allows the company to mold high performance thermoplastics, filled or unfilled, with isotropic mechanical properties. “This capability is especially beneficial for large CNC machined parts that were historically limited to extruded or compression molded stock shapes,” explained Dave Wilkinson, Materials Engineering Manager, Piper Plastics.
A major reason for developing the new technology was to save costs when machining finished parts from expensive high performance materials such as PEEK, PAI or TPI.
The technology also allows Piper to offer small batch runs for mating the right polymer or blend for an application. The process is suitable for larger parts and weights of up to 6 pounds per blank with large and varying wall thicknesses and complex geometries.
