Glossary

Bright Plastics is pleased to provide references in our Glossary. Please check back often to find new examples.

	Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
	A terpolymer consisting of three distinct monomers (molecular units) produced from acrylonitrile and styrene liquids and butadiene gas. It is among the most versatile of the resins in the styrene family and is used widely as the choice for many plastic products because of its strength, limited shrinkage and availability.
	Additive
	Material such as a colorant or volumizer added to a resin (raw plastic) to improve certain characteristics such as flexibility, strength, chemical resistance, and flame retardance.
	Alloy
	In plastics, this term is used to describe blends of polymers or copolymers with other polymers or elastomers. The properties of the alloy usually exceed those of the individual components.
	Anisotropy
	The tendency of a material to react to stresses differently depending on the direction from which the force or stress is applied.
	Annealing
	The process of heating and gradually cooling a molded part to prevent or remove stresses (in plastics) without distortion in the shape of the part.
	ANSI
	Acronym for American National Standards Institute.
	Back Pressure
	The resistance to forward flow of molten plastic. In injection molding, back pressure raises the temperature of the plastic and improves the mixing of additives such as colorant.
	Balanced Runner
	A runner system in injection molding in which all cavities are an equal distance from the sprue (path molten material flows through to reach the mold cavity) to promote even filling of all cavities simultaneously.
	Barrel
	The part of an injection-molding machine which contains the feeding screw and where the resin is made molten.
	Band Heater
	Electrical heating units attached to barrels and nozzles of injection-molding machines and extruders and used to heat a polymer to the desired temperature.
	Bead Blast
	A bead blast refers to one of the many finishes that can be put on a tool in order to change the appearance of the plastic parts. A bead blast can be light, moderate, or heavy.
	Bead Blasting
	Using abrasives in a pressurized air blast to create a surface texture on a part.
	Blister
	A raised area, a defect, on an injection-molded part caused by the pressure of gases inside on its incompletely hardened surface.
	Blush
	In injection molding, a blemish at the point of injection in the finished part.
	Blushing
	The tendency of plastic to turn white or lighter in places that are stressed, bent or deformed beyond the elasticity of the material.
	Boss
	A small projection from the surface of a molded part designed to add strength, to facilitate alignment with another part during assembly or to accept fasteners.
	Bridge Tool
	A temporary mold made to create production parts until a high-volume-production mold can be made.
	Burn
	Black or brown burned areas on the surface of a plastic part due to too much energy applied for too long, a lack of venting, or an injection speed that is too high.
	B-Side
	The moving side of the injection mold that is mounted to the moving side of the molding press. Also called the core side of the mold, it is composed of the b-plate, the rails, the eject and return plates, the base plate and support pillars. The ejector pins in the B-side push the finished part out of the open mold.
	CAD (Computer-Aided Design)
	The use of a computer program such as Solidworks or ProEngineering to create a scale computer model of a part or assembly of parts to be used for testing and making molds.
	CAM (Computer-Assisted Machining or Computer-Aided Manufacturing)
	Using computers and computer technology to control, manage, operate, and monitor tools and machinery in manufacturing processes. Computer-Aided Manufacturing refers to the use of computers and computer technology to assist in all operations of a manufacturing plant, including planning, management, transportation and storage.
	Cast
	Forming a plastic part or object by depositing a fluid monomer-polymer solution into an open mold where it finishes polymerization.
	Cavity
	The space in a mold into which resin is injected to form a plastic part. Molds are either single-cavity or multi-cavity molds.
	Center-gated mold
	An injection mold in which each cavity is fed through an opening(gate) at the center of the cavity area. This type of gating is used when forming items such a cups, bowls, and lids.
	Clamping force or pressure
	The force required to hold a mold shut so resin cannot escape during injection molding. This force is measured in tons, e.g., an 1100 ton press.
	Clamp tonnage
	The rated clamping capacity of an injection molding or transfer molding machine.
	Colorant
	An additive to resin which results in a colored plastic part. A colorant can affect the base color and the hue and properties such as fluorescence without changing the strength or elasticity of the material.
	Core
	The eject side of a mold cavity (the B-side) that forms the inside of the part.
	Cut-off
	The line where the two halves of a compression mold come together, also called Flash Groove or Pinch-off.
	Cycle
	One full sequence in a molding operation from the closing of the mold, injection of the resin, hardening of the part, opening of the mold and the ejection of the part.
	Double-shot molding
	The process of making two-color parts in thermoplastics materials by successive molding operations, also called insert molding, two-color molding, and over-molding.
	Drier
	It is necessary to dry some plastics which have absorbed water before injection molding in order to reduce or prevent defects such as blistering and splay (a surface defect in a plastic part caused by escaping gas and water).
	Drooling
	The leakage of resin from a nozzle or nozzle area during injection in the injection-molding process or leakage around the screen-pack during the extrusion process.
	Durometer hardness
	A measure of the hardness of a resin as measured by a durometer which has a numeric scale where lower numbers indicate softer material and higher numbers harder material.
	Dwell
	A pause in the application of pressure to a mold, which is made just before closing the mold, to allow gas to escape from the molding material.
	EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining)
	A process to electrically remove material from the cavities of a mold and to create very small details and complex shapes.
	Ejector pin
	A rod, or thin plate incorporated into the B-side of a mold which pushes the completed part out of the mold cavity.
	ERP system – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
	Computer software used to assist in the operations of a manufacturing plant from planning and management to transportation and storage. Its use provides for faster production, as well as components and tooling that have more precise dimensions and material consistency. By using an ERP system, the manufacturer can cut down on waste by using only the amount of raw material needed as well as reducing energy consumption.
	Family mold
	A multi-cavity mold where each of the cavities forms one of the component parts of an assembled finished object.
	Flash
	Plastic material which escapes from the mold during the injection process, solidifies and remains attached to the molded article as a thin protrusion. It can be removed by buffing, grinding, tumbling, or blasting after which the molded part is considered finished.
	Flow
	During the process of injection molding, the flow of a plastic is a measurement of its fluidity.
	Flow Marks
	Wavy surface appearances on a molded part which are indications of the flow of plastic within the mold prior to solidification, usually considered imperfections caused by improper flow of the melt into the mold.
	Hot-runner mold
	A mold in which the runners are insulated from the chilled cavities and are kept hot. Hot-runner molds make parts that leave no scrap.
	Hot stamping
	A dry printing process which uses controlled heat, pressure, and precision timing to transfer a color pigment from foil to surfaces of varied shapes and materials.
	Injection molding
	A manufacturing process in which plastic is melted and injected into a mold containing a cavity in the shape of the desired plastic part. After cooling, the mold opens and the part is ejected.
	In-mold labeling
	A process for labeling or decorating a plastic object while the object is being formed in the mold.
	Insert molding
	An injection molding process in which molten plastic is injected into a mold cavity and around an insert piece or pieces placed into the same cavity prior to molding. This process is compatible with both thermoplastic and thermoset materials.
	Mold
	A hollow form or cavity into which plastic resin is injected to form a part. The term usually refers to the assembly of all the parts that function collectively in the molding process. It is also used to describe the action of forming the part.
	Prototype mold
	A simplified mold often made from a light metal casting alloy or from an epoxy resin in order to evaluate design, form, and performance before the final manufacturing of a part or product.
	Reinforced Plastic
	A plastic material in which fibers or other reinforcements have been imbedded to give it greater strength and stiffness than the original base material.
	Resin
	The raw plastic as made by the manufacturer. It usually comes in the form of pellets that are about the size of small pebbles.
	Runner system
	In injection molding, the entire system which directs resin into the molds. It includes sprues, runners and gates.
	Runner
	The channels in an injection mold that allow molten plastic to flow from the machine nozzle to the cavity.
	Sprue
	The main feed channel that connects the mold-filling opening with the runners leading to each cavity gate.