Design and Fabrication of Thermally Efficient Mold for the Compression Molding of Thermoplastic Polymers Produced in Oman

Despite the technological progressive advancements in the traditional manufacturing techniques of polymers like extrusion and injection molding which dominated the industry for 27 of 2Page decades, compression molding remains with unique advantages like ease of application and mass-production of components with a single press only. Nevertheless, the compression molding process of polymers suffers from some problems related to the mold design in terms of handling, extraction of the products, and thermal design of the mold. Among these problems, thermal efficiency of the molds used in compression molding is the most challenging and limiting factor of the process. Thermal efficiency of compression molds is affected by several factors like temperature homogeneity throughout the mold, heat losses during the compression process, and cooling of the mold cavity after the compression stage. Several solutions to the thermal efficiency of the compression mold are possible such as insulation, self-compression, cooling channels and an integrated heating/cooling system. However, these solutions require intensive design analysis and calculations in relation to the material selection to avoid thermal fatigue of the mold. This project aims to develop a thermally efficient mold for the compression process with customization to the locally produced polymers in Oman like polypropylene and polyethylene. Successful completion of the project will open the door to the development of In-Country Value (ICV) products based on the raw polymers produced in Oman. These products may cover a wide range of applications like defense and security, medical industry, construction, and commodity products with high quality economically-effective mass production.