Companies involved in the production of products produced by plastic injection molding are well aware of the costs of dies used to produce their products.  According to this U.S. manufacturer, plastic injection molds can range from $1,000 to $80,000 and more, with an average mold price of $12,000.  These costs provide a substantial incentive to maintain plastic injection molds thereby prolonging service life.

Ultrasonic cleaners provide a way to clean costly injection molding dies and their components in a timely and cost-effective fashion that doesn’t cause wear or require harsh chemicals. In this article we detail how ultrasonic cleaning can address your plastic injection mold cleaning challenges.  It includes a case study describing real-life operations.

Ultrasonic cleaning is fast and safe way to remove mold support and other surface contaminants from simple and complex 3-D printed parts.  Results are far superior to time-consuming water soaking and the risk of possibly damaging part geometries if manually cleaned using brushes.  Here you’ll learn how 3-D printed parts are made, then how ultrasonic energy is used to remove 3D printing mold support from your parts.

How 3-D Printed Parts are Made

3D part printing techniques use a variety of plastics and resins.  Examples include ABS, PLA, polyamide (nylon), glass filled polyamide, stereolithography materials (epoxy resins), silver, titanium, steel, wax, photopolymers and polycarbonate.   

A popular technique combines two moldable thermoplastic formulations such as ABS for the part itself and PLA for removable mold support.  This is a quick means to produce highly complex configurations.

In this instance a key to the efficiency of the process is fast, safe removal of the PLA mold support without risking damage to the ABS part.  An ultrasonic cleaner is proven far faster, safer and more effective than water sprays or manual scrubbing.

Other techniques called SLA (stereolithography) and LFS (low force stereolithography) use lasers to build the part without the need of mold support. In these cases uncured resin on the finished product requires removal best accomplished by ultrasonic energy.

An ultrasonic dental cleaner is a critical necessity if your dental practice employs reusable dental instruments.  Examples include mirrors, probes, burs, excavators and forceps.  These and similar instruments must undergo rigorous cleaning and sterilization procedures. 

Ultrasonic dental cleaners are also required for

• cleaning molds
• removing plaster and cement used in fashioning  bridgework
• cleaning implant hybrid prosthesis and similar restorative procedures  

The key word here is ultrasonic dental cleaning because there are other options.  Here you’ll learn why you need an ultrasonic dental instrument cleaner.

From cleaning your house to getting more utility from your automobile the right accessories can make a big difference.  So it is with your ultrasonic cleaner.  Small investments in the right accessories can pay big dividends in cleaning results, faster throughput and in expanding the services you can offer.  This post describes a selection of the many ultrasonic cleaning accessories available from Elma Ultrasonic Cleaners and how they can improve your efficiency.

Rigorous procedures are spelled out in maintenance manuals for aircraft engine parts, whether jet, turbine or piston. Ultrasonic energy plays an important role both for cleaning and nondestructive testing (NDT) operations by aviation maintenance technicians (AMT), aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organizations and airlines’ own maintenance facilities.  Here are examples of how ultrasonic cleaning speeds aircraft engine maintenance.