REACTION INJECTION MOLDING

Osborne’s durable, low-cost composite RIM molds offer production flexibility early in the life of your project, allowing you to convert to high-speed metal tooling for high-volume production when your market dictates. Osborne’s specialized RIM molding process allows you to:

• Inexpensively market test your new concepts
• Keep investments tied to market success
• Increase to full production as sales grow
• Profit from low- and medium-volume RIM production and from long mold service life

With the ability to accommodate larger RIM parts and tougher specifications, Osborne routinely engineers and manufactures large, heavy, high-performance parts from 2 lbs to over 1000 lbs. The platen size and tonnage of our presses can handle your largest RIM parts. Our precise control of reaction chemistry, cure times, and reinforcements means we can meet or exceed your toughest production requirements. Osborne supports its longtime RIM molding expertise with an unwavering commitment to quality:

• SPC methods control all phases of production to ensure defect-free deliveries.
• All incoming RIM material must meet exacting quality tests.
• All RIM parts are fully post-cured under controlled conditions to for optimal physical properties.
• Our quality assurance laboratory provides NIST-traceable measurements for accurate SPC control.

The thermosets employed in reaction injection molding create polymer chains that act as strengthening backbones in the molded product, providing excellent properties in extreme temperatures.

Furthermore, RIM molding is suitable for a wide range of thermosets, from structural foams to elastomeric polymers and high-impact and corrosion-resistant polydicyclopentadiene (pDCPD). Osborne has PhD chemists on staff that can help formulate resins to meet specific customer requirements. This means Osborne is not restricted to molding “off-the-shelf” resin formulations.

The low processing temperatures and injection pressures allowed in reaction injection molding mean the tooling investment is often more cost-effective for large parts when compared to injection molding tooling.

RIM’s other cost-saving advantages include:

• Varying wall thickness
• Better economies for lower volume parts compared to injection molding
• Mold-in inserts
• Enables part consolidation when compared to sheet metal
• Tooling that’s usually less expensive than that for injection molding
• Lower labor requirements than resin transfer molding
• Lower energy usage and less need for floor space than injection molding

Altogether, these advantages make reaction injection molding the economical choice, especially for runs of thousands of parts.

RIM parts are created through a process that begins when two liquid reactants – an isocyanate component and a polyol resin mixture – are held in separate tanks at an elevated temperature with agitators. These liquids are fed through supply lines at high pressure to the mixhead.

When the injection begins, valves open in the mixhead and the liquids enter a chamber in the mixhead at high pressures (usually between 1,500 and 3,000 psi) and high speeds. Here they are mixed by high-velocity impingement. From the mix-chamber, the mixed liquid flows into the mold at atmospheric pressure and undergoes an exothermic chemical reaction, forming a polymer in the mold.

Reaction time is usually expressed in seconds. For extremely large parts the reaction time can be extended to allow for proper filling of the mold.

Our reliable, well-maintained RIM molding equipment and durable, low-cost composite RIM molds offer the production flexibility you need for your most demanding projects.

We’re pleased to run a wide range of RIM molding equipment, including: