Experienced Plastic Car Water Tank Manufacturer

Custom car parts service: Water tank sample 3D scanning, Water tank mould design and manufacture, injection molding, ultrasonic melting

Material: Modified PP + nylon

Auto Parts-Plastic Car Water Tank

As one of the important components of automobiles, the market for vehicle water tanks occupies an important position in the automobile industry. The car water tank mainly meets the needs of two aspects. One is that the auto water tank is an important part of the car, and it continues to increase due to the increase in car sales. The other is that the automotive water tank is a part that often needs to be replaced in car maintenance.

As an experienced injection molding factory in China, Sungplastic also provide customization and injection molding of auto parts for customers in the automotive industry. In this case, a European customer chooses Sungplastic as a car water tank manufacturer, and we will share the process of this vehicle mounted water tank manufacturing.

Manufacturing Intent of Plastic Car Water Tank

Britain, France, Germany, and Italy have many very beautiful and older cars. They have been well maintained and are still road-legal today. People have a special affection for these cars, so when they encounter some minor problems, they will always try to find new parts to repair them. It’s like rejuvenating an old friend. Auto water tanks are in stable demand in the auto maintenance market. This modified PP plastic water tank is just serving the field of car maintenance.

OEM Service for Custom Plastic Car Water Tank

For this BMW car water tank, what we provide to customers is OEM service. First of all, we can 3D scan the sample provided by the customer, and draw a 3D map that is almost the same size as the sample. Then our mold manufacturing department carries out mold design and manufacture according to this product’s 3D drawing. After the injection mold is completed, the injection moulding production is carried out, and finally, the injection molding product consistent with the customer’s sample is obtained.

Plastic Car Water Tank Manufacturing Process

Material selection of auto water tank

As for the material of the product, the customer only pointed out that the material is PP, and explained that the cooling water tank is used to hold the coolant, and it needs to withstand a high temperature of 135° when the car is working. So it seems that ordinary high-temperature resistant PP material can meet the requirements. However, based on our experience and knowledge of auto parts, we discussed the working environment and performance requirements of the cooling water tank with the customer, and finally believed that the modified PP material used in the production of a Land Rover water tank for a British customer is suitable Require.
The cooling water tank must withstand certain water pressure and air pressure during the operation of the car. Through the understanding of the industry knowledge, we and the customer agreed that the product needs to pass the 1.5 bar water pressure and 10 bar air pressure test. However, ordinary high-temperature-resistant PP cannot be satisfied. This idea was later verified. After the water tank mould was manufactured, we assisted the customer in first verifying that the air pressure test of ordinary high-temperature resistant PP products can only withstand the pressure of 4.5 bar, which is very dangerous.
The final test results of the modified PP+nylon product were fully affirmed by the customer. The formed water tank meets the performance requirements of high temperature and high-pressure resistance. Our experience in this type of product and knowledge of materials help customers avoid potential problems and save a lot of trial and error costs.

DFM analysis of plastic water tank for auto parts

After completing the selection of materials and the analysis and summary of material properties, we need to do DFM and mold flow analysis.
Mold flow analysis is a guide for subsequent mold design and manufacturing and injection moulding production. It includes the rational analysis of product structure and wall thickness, the most suitable gating system design and verification. This verification process includes many aspects of simulation analysis, such as plastic filling time, filling pressure, filling temperature distribution, product potential bubbles or shrinkage defects, product weld lines and warpage. These analysis results will help us design the most reasonable injection mould to ensure the best quality automotive plastic parts and avoid various injection defects.
The Moldflow mold flow analysis software used by our engineering department is a very mature one in the mould industry. Our mould engineers have more than 20 years of experience and can avoid many potential mould modification costs caused by unreasonable original designs.

Design and manufacture of injection mold for automobile water tank

Plastic injection mold design is based on mold flow analysis for 3D drawing of the mold. According to the guiding scheme of the mold flow analysis report, determine the gating system, parting scheme, row position/inclined roof design scheme, ejection system and cooling system of the injection mold. Then our experienced engineering team conducts 3D drawing and perfection of mold details. Let’s take water tank housing as an example.

We can see that the mold of this water tank housing is not a conventional mold. There are four special structures here. One is that both sides of him need to use cylinders to pull the core. The second is that there are two inclined roof structures inside the large slider linked by the oil cylinder on the left. The third is that the copper sleeve insert required by the thread structure at the rear mold is matched with the inclined top structure. The fourth is the design of the hot runner.

The injection mould for the main body of this water tank is the most important. Therefore, after the completion of the 3D drawing of the mould, we repeatedly reviewed the rationality of all the details and the dynamic simulation analysis of the mould operation.

After obtaining the 3D mould drawing, the plastic mould manufacturing process will be processed strictly according to the drawing. The injection mould manufacturing process mainly includes CNC, milling machine, precision grinder, lathe, wire cutting, precision EDM processing, etc. Finally, the most important mould assembly and adaptation work.

The quality control of each step in the automobile mould manufacturing process is very important. The most important thing is mould core adaptation and complete mould assembly. Match these mould core inserts that have passed the inspection, and then assemble them with the mould base to form a complete set of moulds. Mould components fit in place and moving parts such as ramps and slides move smoothly to keep the mold running smoothly during the injection moulding process. The red paint used in the mould fitting is the red lead commonly used in our industry. According to the state of the red lead, it is confirmed whether the fit between the mould inserts is appropriate.

Car water tank injection molding trial production

Before mass production, a process of small batch production of prototypes or samples of injection moulded products is called an injection moulding trial. It is a key part of testing the quality of plastic injection mould manufacturing. The main purpose of mould trial is to test the feasibility of mould design, injection moulding process parameters and raw materials, so as to adjust and optimize before mass production, and reduce unnecessary cost and time waste.

During the mould trial process, it is necessary to verify the mould design, including the shape, size, structure, and mould opening method of the mould, so as to ensure that the mold can be successfully injected. At the same time, the mold trial also needs to optimize the injection moulding process parameters, including the adjustment of injection moulding temperature, pressure, speed, injection molding cycle and other parameters, in order to obtain the best injection molding effect. In addition, the feasibility and quality of raw materials need to be tested to ensure that the quality of the final product meets the requirements.

The upper and lower shells of the car water tank body have a thickness of more than 6.5mm. Therefore, we have designed hot runners for these two sets of molds, so that the molten plastic can fill the cavity more easily, and it is also convenient for our injection moulding technicians to better adjust and control the injection pressure and injection temperature.

Due to the sufficient work of mold flow analysis and improvement of mould design in the early stage, we are confident that there is no major problem with the T0 sample of the mould trial. Below is the T0 sample, the overall effect looks good.

Ultrasonic hot-melt process on plastic parts

We have benefited a lot in this hot-melt assembly from our hot-melt experience in assisting European customers in manufacturing Land Rover and BMW water tanks. This set of car water tank project is in progress, and the manufacture of ultrasonic hot-melt mold and injection mold is carried out simultaneously. After obtaining the qualified injection moulding samples, we immediately match and test the ultrasonic hot-melt mould.

We have experience in welding parts of various shapes and materials, even ultrasonic welding between nylon parts and nylon parts. The hot-melt welding between such high-temperature-resistant PP materials is not difficult.

After the heat fusion is completed, the complete water tank sample is ready. We’re going to pressure test the tank. During the pressure test, it was found that the connection between the canning cup and the upper cover was destroyed when it was less than 9 bar, and the customer required at least 10 bar. We readjusted the heating time of ultrasonic fusion, welding time and pressure, and after several ultrasonic fusion tests and air pressure tests, such problems still occurred between the two. Therefore, we questioned the customer’s material requirements for the canning cup, and there seemed to be a problem. According to the customer’s requirements, the cup material is a material with 20% glass fiber added.

Our operators with rich experience in thermal fusion immediately gave a solution – reducing the glass fiber content to 15%, which will definitely help the fusion between the canning cup and the upper cover. After changing the material, the upper cover is hot-melt spliced with the body of the water tank again. The test results this time perfectly verified our plan. The air pressure reached 11.5bar and the product still did not break or leak. Customers are very satisfied with our quick response.

Ultrasonic hot-melt process on plastic parts

Mass injection molding of car water tank

High-volume injection molding production is an efficient, precise and repeatable method of manufacturing large quantities of plastic products, usually used to produce high-volume goods such as plastic products, home appliance casings, automotive parts, and toys. At the same time, mass injection molding production can also reduce production costs and improve production efficiency.

Carry out mass production of automobile water tanks according to the injection molding parameters during mold testing, and then heat-melt weld all 5,000 sets of products. During the hot-melt processing, we also asked IPQC to conduct five destructive sampling inspections respectively, and the air pressure tests all passed.

The cargo packaging pallet is a custom-made export-grade fumigation-free wooden pallet, and the corner protector and protective film fix the cartons on the pallet together, making it difficult to shift during transportation. After the loading is completed, the goods will be delivered to the port, and the goods will be shipped to the customer by sea.

car water tank injection molding process

Auto Parts Water Tank Manufacturer

We have successfully completed the production requirements of the customer’s customized car water tank. Sungplastic is not just a car water tank manufacturer, we can provide more auto parts manufacturing services. Such as car center console, car audio, car door panels, car connectors and other plastic accessories.

Sungplastic can provide customers with a one-stop service for OEM customization of plastic products. From communicating with customers, 3D scanning and drawing of samples, product design improvement, plastic prototype manufacturing, DFM analysis of plastic products, plastic mold design and manufacturing, injection molding, surface treatment, silk screen printing, and final shipment. We have been constantly improving our services to make it easier for customers from placing an order to shipping.

We hope you enjoyed this case study overview, and may have gained some insights that can help you with your next project.
If you need to customize cars or other plastic products, do you also want to make it a reality? When you send your inquiry to sungplastic today, we are always ready to provide you with a free quotation and project review service.