Development and application of the most popular mo

Development and application of moldable film decoration technology

Plastic Processors regard moldable film as an economical, durable and environmentally friendly in mold coating method. The technology of painting, printing, hot stamping and chromium plating after molding is being replaced by molding film for in mold decoration. This technology was first successfully used in smaller and flatter interior and exterior trim parts and. Nowadays, in mold decoration (IMD) technology can be used for large 3D components, such as the entire dashboard of cars and trucks, bumper, bumper guard, roof and even hood. The first paint free body horizontal panel has appeared in smart two seat single row open roof vehicles

in mold decoration eliminates the cost of secondary processing, which is particularly attractive to the automotive industry. According to venkatakrishnan umamahesheswaran, industrial manager of Lexan SLX body parts in the General Electric Plastics Department, "paint is one of the most expensive elements in automobiles". The coating production line is the largest investment in the automobile assembly plant, accounting for half of the factory floor, and 1500 tons of organic volatile substances are produced every year

imd also claims to have the lowest scrap rate, which can be formed and decorated in the same site, improving the recycling rate. IMD has obtained A-level surface and will not produce flow marks formed by in mold coloring. However, if there are many holes in the molded parts that need to be modified, the economy of IMD will be challenged

people who support IMD say that the scratch resistance and impact resistance of body panels produced by the latest generation of formed film technology are equal to or better than painted metal sheets. However, in the foreseeable future, in mold molding cannot completely replace paint, because automobile manufacturers have spent a lot of money on paint coating production lines. However, industry observers believe that in the United States, few manufacturers will invest in building large paint coating production lines

imd or film inlay coating technology first cuts thin printed, coated or colored plastic sheets into plates with die heads, and then thermoforming as required. After renovation, it is put into the injection molding cavity and post molded together with the compatible substrate. The surface can be monochrome, metal appearance, wood grain or geometric figure

recently, moldable film coating is far more than used for injection molding. The film embedding process can now be used on thermoplastic or polyurethane composite substrates. Moreover, thick sheet forming (TSF), which includes thermoformed parts directly laminated by sheets and decorative films, is becoming another very promising technology for processing large parts such as truck bumper, door sill and rear body cover

imd is first made by imitating wood grain or given graphics or instrument panel for silk printing or offset printing. Printing can be carried out either on the first layer of the insert (ink, film, substrate) or on the surface of the second layer (film, ink, substrate). The second layer is a printed pattern surrounded by transparent film, which is more durable. Through this film, the surface structure of printed graphics can be seen clearly. The same effect can be achieved by printing the second layer of surface and laminating it with other films (film, ink, film, substrate), and preventing the printed graphics from being affected by post forming shear force and heating. Another way to protect the printed pattern is to put the film on the side of the mold cavity and plastic it with transparent resin. The result of this treatment is said to have a particularly good gloss and moist appearance

for the emerging large-scale 3D automotive interior and exterior parts, one of the trends is to use the so-called dry paint film. It can provide a single color, polished metal and bright chrome effect. Dry paint film is a kind of flexible coating similar to paint layer that can be thermoformed

the updated film for 3D auto parts is a film co extruded with colored layers. The colored layer is protected by a transparent layer. Proponents of this structure say that the colored layer may be more suitable for complex, deep formed thermoformed parts than coating a thin layer of color on the surface of the dry paint film

in mold decoration anti-aging

the most important factor for the development of in mold decoration technology is that it can carry out A-level anti-aging treatment on automotive external parts and heavy truck components. Five of the six major in mold decorative molding film suppliers can provide outdoor anti-aging products, and the sixth is under development

avery Dennison provides acrylic/pvdf formable dry paint film with the brand name of avloy. This film is laminated into ABS or TPO bottom sheet with a thickness of 20-30 mm. The company has thick sheets that can be used for heat supply molding parts. The treatment of avloy film can match all kinds of high and low gloss monochrome, metallic and pearlescent liquid paints. At the same time, it can also obtain polished metal effect and printing effect

soleant provides fluorex dry paint film, transparent coating/colored coating film, which have been used on several cars. The top of these four-layer structures is a transparent coating made of acrylic/fluoropolymer admixture, followed by a colored coating made of the same material, a bonding layer, and finally ABS, TPO, PVC or PC bottom layer as required. The thickness of the bottom layer can range from 0.3 to 300 mm. Soliant produces fluorex t/hr film for extrusion coating and fluorex 2010 film for in mold decoration. The printed patterns, including the polished metal effect, can be used for internal and external decorative parts. The latest product is fluorex bright film, which has chrome plating effects of various colors and black with different brightness. The product has been tested outdoors in Florida and Arizona for one year

mayco plastic company produces four layers of "in mold coloring" (MIC) formable film for IMD. The company uses films for its own IMD projects, but also sells coiled materials, pre cut sheets or preformed shells. At the same time, the company is also developing thick sheet forming (TSF) products

class a gloss film is co extruded from ionomer and polypropylene. Both the transparent coating on the top layer and the colored coating under it are new ionomers that are stable to ultraviolet light produced by a Schulman company. The third layer is the adhesive layer, and finally the bottom layer. It can be polypropylene homopolymer or copolymer, metallocene polypropylene or TPO as needed

in mold coloring film has been used in the front bumper guard of a few DaimlerChrysler 2002 Dodge Neon cars. The company is currently installing a 3000 ton injection molding machine for the production of IMD films for 2004 and 2005 neon models

senoplast the United States produces senotop three-layer coextrusion films with a thickness of 1 to 2 mm, which can be used in IMD or direct thermoforming. Under the top PMMA transparent coating is PMMA colored coating, and the substrate is asa/pc admixture. It is reported that the latter can be combined with ABS,/pc, ASA, asa/pc, PC, and pbt/pc

ge plastics has introduced a surface CO extruded film, which can be co extruded with the shiny new Lexan SLX polycarbonate copolymer. Lexan SLX has a UV resistant structure to protect the color master layer of Lexan PC. The film can be post molded with PC, PC alloy or most polyester. Ge also developed a bonding layer that allows Lexan SLX film to be used with other substrates. An example is the combination of pc/asa bonding layer with film and glass fiber reinforced polyurethane base, which is used as the roof module of smart single row double carriages. In addition, Ge is also developing in mold decorative film with chromium plating effect and ULTEM Pei UL94V-0 film with high temperature resistance

Bayer polymer recently merged the film marketing department with the Sheffield plastic division, aiming to extend the in mold decoration technology to the application of automotive exterior parts. Patrick Griffin, a senior market development expert of in mold decoration, said, "the in mold decoration technology that has been used in automotive interior parts will also be expanded into exterior parts". Bayer is developing a formable coating system equivalent to automotive paint. "We have made 60%" and the coating will be applied to Bayer makrofol PC and bayfol pc/pbt films, which are compatible with ABS, PC and/abs substrates

coating free class a surface

IMD has been used in several class a automotive exterior components on the market. Soliant focuses on decorating entire components, such as door sills, rather than focusing on decorative parts. TPO elements account for the largest share of the application of solidant in mold decoration technology. At present, the applications of 2003 and 2004fluorex in mold decoration include Acura 3.2tl door sill plate and body side plate

Toyota avolan door sill, a and B pillars of Cadillac Seville and Deville, body side panels of Honda Odyssey, upper and lower grille components of Renault Laguna, roof strips of Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan maxima, Volvo S80 and S60. The company is developing a roof module. In addition, marketing director John cupstid also saw the great potential of bumper and bumper guard

although Tim Hoefer, President of mayco plastics, said that its co extrusion in mold coloring film technology can also be used in trucks, SUVs, household appliances and furniture, the company is also committed to developing large components such as front and rear bumper guards and body panels. Until now, dry paint films such as fluorescent film of soliant company and avloy film of averydennison company have surpassed co extruded films in giving light metal color

hoefer admits that it is difficult to obtain metallic color for CO extruded films. But he said that mauco's in mold coloring film can be comparable to metal body paint, because the special film extrusion die can help guide the metal sheet

however, Alexander aucken, global automotive director of cyanate, pointed out that GE's Lexan SLX, global marketing manager Todd Sweeney, said, "we have a considerable number of metallic colors and are continuing to develop, including light metal and silver colors."

the application of GE's Lexan SLX film in mold decoration includes wheel housings, roof sheds, etc. Four new projects of external vertical and horizontal panels of the company are still in the confidential stage

senoplast has developed three roof module projects made of thermoformed senotop film lined with long fiber reinforced pur composites at the back. The first series of products are the front spoiler and the rear panel of the glass sunroof of 2003 smart car. Another open jjg1136 (2) 017 also requires the fulfillment of table 5. The interior decoration items of the mold are the injection molded ABS, PC fender and bumper of the smart car. Similarly, an American automobile manufacturer is also developing senotop in mold decorative film to produce a and B-pillar covers

substitute for chromium

soliant's new fluorex bright film is popular in the class 5 and 8 truck class a hot formed bumper parts market. The ABS bumper with chrome general gloss film on the outside is made by hen, the operating factor affecting the impact strength: drickson international. Using more than 20 square feet of film, the depth molding ratio is 50%. According to jeffzawacki, director of marketing and engineering of Hendrickson company, it is also the first non-metallic bright bumper with such a size. Jeff Zawacki also said that the cost of thin film is equivalent to that of chromium plating, but the latter cannot be applied to such large-scale parts

Hendrickson aero high gloss bumper launched in July 2003 can meet OEM requirements, such as passing 500 hours of salt spray gravel test and aging test. Mr. Zawacki said that the main driving force of this technology is to replace chrome plating and become an environment-friendly product with mirror treatment effect and no peeling and falling

he also added that the hot forming technology of bright film can be applied to several other parts,