Analysis of Difficulties in Silicone Hot Pressing and Liquid Forming

Analysis of Difficulties in Silicone Hot Pressing and Liquid Forming
Silicone, as a high-performance elastic material, has been widely used in daily life and industrial production. The molding process of silicone mainly includes two categories: hot pressing molding and liquid forming. These two molding methods each have their own characteristics, but there are also some difficulties and challenges.
Hot pressing molding is a process of heating silicone to a certain temperature and applying pressure through a mold to achieve molding. Although this molding method is suitable for processing silicone products with high hardness, such as silicone buttons, silicone sealing rings, etc., it faces some challenges in practical operation.
On the one hand, high precision is required for hot pressing molding. Due to the enhanced fluidity of silicone at high temperatures, insufficient precision of the mold can easily lead to uneven flow of silicone in the mold, thereby affecting the shape and quality of the finished product. Therefore, the design and manufacturing of molds need to achieve extremely high precision standards, which puts high demands on the technology and equipment of mold manufacturing enterprises.
On the other hand, controlling temperature and pressure during the hot pressing process is also a major challenge. The curing temperature range of silicone is relatively narrow. If the temperature is too high or too low, it will affect the curing effect of silicone and lead to poor performance of the finished product. Meanwhile, the magnitude and uniformity of pressure also have a significant impact on the shape and quality of the finished product. Therefore, during the hot pressing process, it is necessary to strictly control the temperature and pressure to ensure that the silicone gel can evenly and fully fill the mold and achieve the desired curing effect.

We analyze the difficulties of liquid forming. Liquid forming is the process of injecting silicone raw materials with lower liquid viscosity into a mold and solidifying them at a certain temperature to achieve molding. This molding method is suitable for processing silicone products with high softness and complex shapes, such as silicone fillers, silicone pipe fittings, etc. However, there are also some difficulties and challenges in liquid forming.
The control of raw materials for liquid forming is relatively difficult. Due to the low viscosity and strong fluidity of silicone raw materials, problems such as glue leakage and bubbles are prone to occur during injection into the mold. These issues not only affect the shape and quality of the finished product, but may also lead to damage to the mold. Therefore, liquid forming requires very high control of raw materials, requiring strict control of parameters such as viscosity and temperature to ensure that the raw materials can be stably and uniformly injected into the mold.
The design and manufacturing of molds for liquid forming also have certain difficulties. Due to the strong fluidity of liquid silicone in the mold, the design of the mold needs to fully consider the fluidity and filling properties of silicone to ensure that it can fully fill the mold and achieve the desired shape. At the same time, the manufacturing of molds also needs to achieve high precision standards to ensure the uniform and stable flow of silicone in the mold.
The solidification process of liquid forming also needs to be strictly controlled. Compared with hot pressing, the curing process of liquid forming is more complex, and factors such as the curing speed, degree, and temperature changes during the curing process of silicone need to be considered. If the curing process is not properly controlled, it may lead to uneven or excessive curing of silicone, thereby affecting the performance and quality of the finished product.
Both silicone hot pressing and liquid forming have some difficulties and challenges in practical applications. These difficulties not only involve the control of process parameters, but also involve aspects such as mold design and manufacturing. Therefore, in practical operation, it is necessary to fully consider these difficulties and take appropriate measures to solve them to ensure that the quality and performance of silicone products meet the requirements.