Rapid Heat Cycle Molding (RHCM) is also known as steam

injection molding Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...

. Dr. Chao-Tsai Huang has written an extensive 68 page paper outlining, among other things, a case study on RHCM. His paper is entitled In-depth Study of RHCM and IHM Technologiesand Industrial Applications.Dr. Chao- Tsai Huang In general, ABS material is used as the raw material. The primary advantage of steam injection is that it eliminates weld-lines on molded parts. This allows

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

to eliminate future processes such as

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. In non-steam molding,

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

will heat the tool to a constant temperature. Plastic will be injected to the warm tool. In steam molding,

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

is injected at 160 degrees to heat the tool. When the tool reaches a predetermined temperature (about 140 degrees), the

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

is injected. Cold water is immediately added to the process to cool the plastic down to around 40 degrees. Because the mold is so hot when the plastic is injected, there are no weld lines, and a "perfect" product results. Steam injection molding is now being extensively used to produce the front covers of

LCD TV A liquid-crystal-display television (LCD TV) is a television set that uses a liquid-crystal display to produce images. It is by far the most widely produced and sold type of television display. LCD TVs are thin and light, but have some disadvanta ...

References

{{Reflist Plastics industry