Design Flexibility, Cost-saving Effect, and Optimized Product Design!

The ONE* MuCell®, LS Mtron"s Microcellular Foam

The MuCell® microcellular foam injection molding process provides unique design flexibility and cost savings not found in conventional injection molding.

The MuCell® process allows for design optimized for functionality, and the combination of density reduction and the optimized design through foam results in material and weight savings of more than 20%. By replacing the pack & hold phase with a foam process, lower stress parts are produced so that it can enhance dimensional stability, substantially reduce warpage, and reduce shrinkage through foam.

Due to the reduced costs and processing advantages, the MuCell® is now widely used in automobiles, home appliances, medical devices, packaging and consumer goods.

■ MuCell® with excellent uniformity and homogeneity

Based on the microcellular foaming technology which has many advantages, such as reduced production time, material cost savings, excellent insulation and sound proofing, light weight of the product, and minimal deformation after molding, the MuCell® generates high-density foam cell inside thermoplastics materials in order to create microcellular foams with uniform distribution and cell sizes.

These foam materials produced in this way have a cell structure with excellent uniformity and homogeneity, thereby making parts with excellent properties and reproducibility.

The limitations in creating and applying foams to the existing thermoplastic resin were the large and non-uniform dimensions of foams. These limiting factors weaken the mechanical properties of a product, including tensile and impact strength, bending degree, and fatigue, break easily, and make cross sections thicker to prevent foams from being exposed out of the materials.

Trexel, which developed a new concept of foam technology to overcome these limitations, applied it to injection molding, whereas MuCell Extrusion applied it to extrusion. The MuCell® process based on the microcellular foaming technology of thermoplastic polymer was originally conceptualized at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). With a uniform and homogeneous structure, it allows for parts with excellent properties and reproducibility.

The name MuCell® was registered by Trexel to refer to the microcellular foaming technology and the materials produced through it, and the ONE* MuCell® of LS Mtron is also supported by Trexel.

Comparison with gas/foam molding method

■ LS Mtron"s One Stop Solution for foam molding, ranging from molds and auxiliary facilities to machines

LS Mtron"s the ONE* MuCell® consists of 10 models (500~3,300 tons), with a variety of features that attract a lot of attention from customers. The Core Back function stabilizes and maximizes the foaming rates of a product, and the Servo Valve allows for precise position control.

For more detailed features of the ONE* MuCell®, please see Table 2.

Key Features of the ONE* MuCell®

Meanwhile, LS Mtron provides customers with a special package for MuCell®.

The MuCell® package consists of a SCF metering that controls opening/closing according to time and location, a shut off nozzle at the front of the barrel to prevent pressure leakage, a specialized screw for the flow and kneading of SCF, a check valve at the rear of the barrel to prevent pressure leakage, a MuCell® program and a SCF system with high-pressure pumping / 6,500 psi / precise gas supply, as well as Nitrogen or CO2 supply to deliver optimum gas required for foam molding.

LS Mtron provides "One Stop Solution for foam molding" in various applications, ranging from molds and auxiliary facilities to machines, and it is expected to provide improved yield by offering customers the optimized conditions for foam molding based on LS Mtron"s accumulated know-how and experience.

■ Inquiry: LS Mtron"s Molding Machine Division’s Website www.lsinjection.com