Back to the full dot-point answer
ScotlandDesign and ManufactureQuick questions
Materials and Manufacture
Quick questions on Manufacturing processes - SQA Higher Design and Manufacture
6short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is injection moulding?Show answer
Thermoplastic granules are heated and melted in a barrel by a rotating screw, then injected under high pressure into a closed steel mould; the part cools, the mould opens and ejects it, and the cycle repeats. It makes complex, accurate parts in one step and is fast and automated, so it is ideal for mass production, but the steel mould is expensive, so it is only economic at high volume.
What is vacuum forming?Show answer
A thermoplastic sheet is clamped, heated until soft, and drawn down over a mould by sucking out the air beneath it; it cools to the mould shape. It makes thin-walled, shallow shapes (trays, packaging, casings) with cheap wood or resin moulds, suiting lower volumes and prototypes, but only open, fairly simple shapes.
What is blow moulding?Show answer
A tube of molten thermoplastic is inflated with air inside a mould so it takes the mould's shape, making hollow products such as bottles and containers quickly and cheaply in volume.
What is q1?Show answer
Describe the main stages of injection moulding. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain why vacuum forming is chosen over injection moulding for a low-volume packaging tray. [4 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Explain why casting is used to make a complex metal component such as a vice body. [3 marks]
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.