Exploitable results Industrial application of the overinjection process The process parameters which effect the performance of items manufactured by the overinjection process have been identified. Those parameters which maximize the bond strength between base and overitem have been optimized. Parameters which decrease the formation of voids, decrease the amount of shrinkage and warpage have also been identified. The overinjection process can be successfully applied to the manufacture of industrial components, as demonstrated by the production of an industrial prototype. The available software packages which attempt to simulate numerically the fibre flow during the overinjection process have several limitations. A number of these limitations have been overcome but the requirement for full 3-dimensional calculations has also been demonstrated. An approach to the finite element modelling of the thermomechanical response of a thermoplastic during processing has been developed. The technique of varying the finite element mesh at different stages of the overinjection process appears to work satisfactorily. The 2 major sources of defects to overinjected products are shrinkage and inadequate wetting of the base. However, these sources are not peculiar to the overinjection process but are generally associated with injection moulding. Consequently, solutions to these defects are to be found among those universally applied to injection moulding. Particular attention has been taken to develop techniques that are applicable to a broad spectrum of applications. The commercial viability of the process has been demonstrated by successfully designing, fabricating and testing an industrial prototype. An initial investigation into the potential market for overinjection has uncovered a number of suitable products. Searching for OpenAIRE data... There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE No results available
