A review of current advancements in high surface quality injection molding: Measurement, influencing factors, prediction, and control

Abstract

Injection molding is an efficient manufacturing process for mass-producing parts with complicated geometry, consistent quality, and attractive appearance. With the increasing dependency of consumers’ decisions on the aesthetic and design attraction of the products, improvement of surface quality has been one of the main areas for research and development of injection molding technologies. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of injection molding for high surface quality based on the optical aspect of surface quality and defects. It classifies the recent research and development into four sections, namely, measurement, influencing factors and causes, prediction, and control of surface quality and defects. Based on those reviewed studies, this paper proposes further research and development topics for high surface quality injection-molded products.

Keywords

• Injection molding
• Appearance quality
• Surface quality
• Surface defects
• High gloss surface
• Microcellular foaming