Design and Manufacturing of Plastics Products : Integrating Traditional Methods With Additive Manufacturing

Design and Manufacturing of Plastics Products: Integrating Conventional Methods and Innovative Technologies brings together detailed information on design, materials selection, properties, manufacturing, and the performance of plastic products, incorporating the utilization of the latest novel techniques and additive manufacturing technologies. The book integrates the design of molded products and conventional manufacturing and molding techniques with recent additive manufacturing techniques to produce performant products and cost-effective tools. Key areas of innovation are explained in detail, including hybrid molds, the integration of processing options with product properties and performance, and sustainability factors such as eco-design strategies, recycling, and lifecycle assessment. Other sections cover the development of plastics products, including design methodologies, design solutions specific to plastics, and design for re-use, as well as manufacturing and performance, with an emphasis on thermoplastic molding techniques, recent advances on plastics tooling, and the appraisal of the influence of processing options on product performance. This is a valuable resource to plastics engineers, design engineers, mold makers, and product or part designers across industries. It will also be of interest to researchers and advanced students in plastics engineering, polymer science, additive manufacturing and mechanical engineering.