Vacuum Casting Technology Fabricating Lightweight Plastic Parts Polypropylene PA66

Vacuum Casting Technology Fabricating Lightweight Plastic Parts Polypropylene PA66

Product Description:

Aerospace components demand high-performance materials that can withstand extreme conditions, including high stress, temperature variations, and exposure to corrosive elements. Vacuum casting has become an invaluable method in the aerospace industry for producing precision prototypes and low-volume production runs of parts used in aircraft, spacecraft, and other aerospace applications. Advanced polymers like PEEK (Polyetheretherketone) and Polyamide (commonly known as Nylon) are often selected due to their superior mechanical properties, thermal stability, and resistance to environmental factors.

PEEK is particularly suited for aerospace components because of its high strength, resistance to wear, and ability to withstand temperatures up to 250°C. It is used in critical applications such as structural components, seals, and bearings, where performance and durability are paramount. Polyamide, especially PA6 and PA66, is also frequently used for aerospace parts due to its excellent impact resistance, tensile strength, and the ability to perform under mechanical loads. Polyamide is commonly employed for non-structural components, such as housings, cable ties, and connectors, where high resistance to wear and fatigue is needed.

The vacuum casting process for aerospace components begins with the creation of a master model, which can be 3D-printed or CNC-machined from the design specifications. A silicone mold is then made from the master, capturing all the fine details of the part’s geometry. Liquid PEEK or Polyamide resin is injected into the mold under vacuum pressure, ensuring that the resin fills every cavity without air bubbles, resulting in high-quality parts with excellent surface finishes and precise dimensions.

The ability to use vacuum casting in the aerospace industry is particularly advantageous for rapid prototyping and low-volume production runs. Aerospace companies can quickly produce and test parts before committing to expensive tooling for large-scale production. This method allows for fast iteration, which is crucial in a sector where new technologies and designs are constantly being developed and refined. Furthermore, vacuum casting helps reduce material waste, making it an environmentally friendly option for manufacturing high-performance components.

Applications of vacuum casting
Vacuum casting is one of the most cost-effective ways to produce high quality, low volume plastic parts which can be similar to injection moulding parts

The parts are especially suitable for form, fit and function tests during the embodiment design stages, where they can be used for marketing, field user testing and product design verification purposes

There are many Urethane casting resins commercially available that can be used to create parts to satisfy a wide range of design requirements such as temperature requirements, different surface textures, hardness, etc.

Materials are also available to create parts that are fully opaque, translucent or completely transparent

Sometimes high-quality wax masters can be made using vacuum casting for investment casting to increase the finer details of intricate features

Typical technical specification

Polyurethane (PU), the full name of polyurethane, is a polymer material formed by polyol and polyisocyanate through polycondensation reaction with excellent mechanical properties

[1], which is extremely plastic. Its synthesis can be traced back to 1937, when Professor Byaer first synthesised straight-chain linear polyurethane resins using 1,6-hexanediisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol as raw materials

[2]. Several major classifications of polyurethanes include polyether-type, polyester-type, polyimide-type, and polyurea-type, etc. They can be made into materials such as polyurethane plastics (mainly foams), polyurethane fibres (known as spandex in China), polyurethane rubbers and elastomers

[3].After nearly eighty years of technological development, this material has a wide range of applications involving products such as coatings, adhesives, fabric finishes, leather modifiers, polyurethane soft/rigid foam, elastomers, etc., which are used in the fields of textiles, construction, aviation, shipping, transportation, medicine, electronics, and so on.

Flexible polyurethane mainly has a linear structure with thermoplasticity, which has better stability, chemical resistance, resilience and mechanical properties than PVC foams, with less compression variability. Heat insulation, sound insulation, shock resistance, anti-virus performance is good. Therefore, it is used as packaging, sound insulation and filtration materials. Rigid polyurethane plastic is lightweight, sound insulation, superior thermal insulation performance, chemical resistance, good electrical properties, easy processing, low water absorption. It is mainly used in construction, automotive, aviation industry, thermal insulation structure materials. Polyurethane elastomer performance between plastic and rubber, oil resistance, abrasion resistance, low temperature resistance, aging resistance, high hardness, elasticity. It is mainly used in the shoe industry and the medical industry. Polyurethane can also make adhesives, coatings, synthetic leather, etc.

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