Rapid injection moulding process of polyether ether ketone based on stereolithography

Abstract

In this study, photosensitive resin mould was made by stereolithography technology to inject individualized polyether ether ketone (PEEK) parts. In simulation experiment, the temperature field of the PEEK injection mould was analysed by finite element analysis; it was preliminarily determined that the resin mould will not be deformed during the injection process. The optimum parameters of PEEK injection process were obtained by orthogonal experiment: injection temperature 373 °C, injection pressure 11 MPa and injection speed 70%. Mechanical tests were carried out on PEEK samples injected by this process. The results showed that the average tensile strength was 96.4 ± 2.28 MPa, the average bending strength was 147.654 ± 9.36 MPa, and the impact strength was higher than 10 kJ/m2. The experimental results show that it is feasible to produce photosensitive resin mould to inject individualized PEEK parts by stereolithography. Photosensitive resin mould has lower cost, shorter production cycle and no waste of PEEK material during injection process. The injection method in this study greatly reduced the production cost of individualized PEEK parts and can obtain PEEK parts with good mechanical properties in a relatively fast time.