IMKS and IMMS: two methods for the production of plastic parts featuring metallic areas

摘要

The integration and combination of known technologies to one-step-processes is a promising way to implement enhancements to existing processes and products, as well as to new product developments. This approach is followed by two integrative process technologies that were developed by the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen University and the Surface Engineering Institute (IOT) at the RWTH Aachen University as part of the Cluster of Excellence "Integrative Production Technologies for High-Wage Countries". In these processes, pure metals or metal alloys are joined to the injection moulded part, which potentially results in particular advantages referring to the electrical properties of the product. The integrated metal/plastic injection moulding (IMKS) represents the combination of injection moulding and metal die casting. The in-mould metal spraying (IMMS) combines the injection moulding with the thermal spraying of metal. In the following, the level of development of both methods is presented and future potentials are shown.