Making MuCell more accessible

Users no longer pay a royalty or need a license agreement to produce MuCell parts made on injection presses from qualified original equipment manufacturers. When an OEM of injection molding machines buys MuCell hardware for use with its press, that OEM is also granted the right to exercise the technology. In turn, processors no longer need to obtain a MuCell license from Trexell;

instead, the OEM can offer its customers a complete turnkey MuCell injection molding system. Milacron LLC, Batavia, Ohio, is the latest OEM to come on board (read the PMM story here). Trexel also has agreements in place with Arburg, Engel and KraussMaffei.

MUCELL has its first applications from Japanese automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, via Trexel Japan Co. Ltd., a joint venture Trexel Inc. formed in 2013 with Matsui Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a maker of auxiliary equipment and Japan's No. 1 maker of material handling equipment. Trexel Japan's president, Hisashi Tsugawa, has more than 20 years' experience in the Japanese injection molding industry, which includes progressive management responsibilities at GE Plastics Japan.

Simulation programs for modeling MuCell parts were not available just five years ago, says Braig. Trexel has forged several partnerships to gain simulation and analysis abilities to this end, including one with simulation software maker Moldex3D, Taiwan. Moldex3D, with U.S. offices in Farmington Hills, Mich., is developing a MuCell mold filling simulation that shows how the part fills and where hot spots might be, so designers can accurately and reliably predict mold filling behavior. Autodesk's Moldflow division is also currently developing a module with programs that simulate mold filling with MuCell.

Trexel has teamed up with e-Xstream Engineering, Hautcharage, Luxembourg, the developer of the Digimat suite of finite element analysis programs, in creating a module that can calculate a structural analysis of a MuCell foamed part.

To spur development efforts in the academic world, Trexel has forged partnerships with the new International Center for Automotive Research at Clemson University, and with Behrend College at Penn State Erie.

Mold trials on large-tonnage machines are now possible through Trexel's partnership with toolmaker Proper Mold of Detroit. The companies created a technology center with 1,200-ton and 2,500-ton presses for realistic automotive mold trials. The smaller presses at Trexel's headquarters were not equipped to conduct trials on larger MuCell parts. The partnership helps to lower the barrier to investment, says Braig.