Blow molding is a highly efficient manufacturing process in the formative category designed for producing hollow, seamless plastic products.
Blow molding is a highly efficient manufacturing process in the formative category designed for producing hollow, seamless plastic products. The technology integrates the principles of extrusion or injection molding with pneumatic pressure to stretch and press a heated thermoplastic preform against the internal surfaces of a closed, water-cooled mold.
The physical and kinematic cycle of the process occurs in the following six phases:
The kinematics and configurations of blow molding machines vary significantly based on the sub-technology (EBM vs. IBM/ISBM) and target throughput.
EBM machines are designed around how the parison is extruded:
The tooling engineering in blow molding directly governs bottom weld seam strength, neck thread precision, and overall cycle efficiency.
Molds consist of two mating halves. Because of the low blowing pressures (), materials with high thermal conductivity are preferred:
| Category | Formative Manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Library | CNC machining |
Engineer, author of The Big Book of 3D Printing and additive manufacturing expert