The Biggest Benefits of the Compression Moulding Manufacturing Process

Tooling for compression moulding is generally lower in cost than tools designed for other moulding methods. This is due to fewer infrastructure needs – other than the die cavity itself that produces rubber mouldings, there is little else needed when it comes to additional tooling features. Whilst compression moulding tooling must be able to withstand a considerable amount of moulding pressure, in many cases, tools can be manufactured from cheaper materials such as aluminium and lower-costing grades of steel.

Compression moulding is best suited to producing large rubber mouldings that require a considerable quantity of raw materials. Unlike some other processes, there is no limit to the size of mouldings that can be made, other than the size of mould cavities. Raw materials are loaded directly into the mould cavity, whereas a process like injection moulding limits the weight of material that can be used as it must fit the injection barrel that is used to fill the mould.

Due to the lower cost involved in manufacturing tools for compression moulding, as well as setting it up and starting production runs, this means that compression moulding is the best suited process for smaller runs of moulded parts. It is likely that a smaller run of production is likely to create parts of a relatively low cost as a result of a low quantity, so compression moulding is the best suited production process.

One of the main advantages of compression moulding is that this process is able to mould large, yet fairly intricate parts when compared with other moulding processes.

The actual compression moulding manufacturing process is fairly simple – raw material is placed directly into the moulding cavities of a pre-heated tool. The mould is then closed and heated, and pressure is applied to the moulding until the raw materials form the desired shape. The amount of time needed to complete a specific moulding process depends on the following factors; moulding temperature, the type of material being used, and the size of the intended component.

When manufactured to British standard BS6853 category 1a, compression moulded products are well suited to the highly strict fire, toxicity and smoke standards of the mass transit (rail) industry.