Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering: requirements for injection moulded parts

In electrical engineering, electrical safety, functional reliability and component service life are paramount. Injection moulded plastic parts must offer defined creepage and clearance distances, high dielectric strength and reproducible dimensional accuracy to reliably prevent short circuits and functional failures.

Housings, connectors, insulating components and carrier parts for assemblies face increasing miniaturisation, higher functional density and stricter standards. At the same time, requirements for flammability behaviour, temperature resistance and moisture behaviour of the plastics used are rising – for example in switchgear, sensors, power electronics or building automation.

Plastic injection moulding enables precise, lightweight and economical solutions in this environment: parts can be designed for electrical insulation, ease of assembly and series production, while approved materials and stable processes ensure repeatable quality.

Our solutions for electrical engineering

Typical applications

For electrical engineering we manufacture injection moulded parts including for the following applications:

• Plastic housings for switchgear, controls and assemblies
• Connector housings, contact carriers and connector components
• Insulating parts such as spacers, covers and barriers
• Coil formers, winding carriers and components for transformers or chokes
• Carrier and functional parts for printed circuit boards and modules
• Cable glands, strain reliefs and components for installation systems

This covers a broad spectrum from classical electrical engineering through automation technology to power supply and control cabinet applications.

Materials and special requirements

For injection moulding in electrical engineering, predominantly electrically insulating and partially flame-retardant thermoplastics and thermosets are used, such as polyamide, PBT, polycarbonate or phenolic resins, melamine or epoxy resins. These materials combine good electrical insulation with mechanical strength, temperature resistance and economical processability in series production of injection moulded parts.

Depending on the application, flame-retardant types with suitable UL 94 classifications are used, for example for housings in switchgear, controls or sensitive electronic assemblies. In addition, we consider electrical engineering standards and guidelines on tracking resistance, flammability behaviour and technical cleanliness to design parts in compliance with standards and suitable for assembly.

Typical priorities for materials and requirements include:

• High electrical insulation capability and defined creepage and clearance distances
• Flame-retardant grades with appropriate UL 94 classes
• Temperature resistance for continuous and peak temperatures
• Low moisture uptake and dimensional stability
• Suitable surfaces for marking, printing or labelling

Technical competence

Manufacturing and quality assurance

Our injection moulding for electrical engineering is based on a machine park designed for precise, filigree parts with tight tolerances and high volumes. Precision injection moulding machines, aligned tooling concepts and process-safe demoulding enable thin-walled geometries, complex contours and accurately fitting connector areas or two-component injection moulding for integrated functions.

We work with stable series processes, monitored process windows and documented quality characteristics. Depending on requirements, we integrate dimensional inspections, functional tests and flammability testing and, where necessary, manufacturing environments with enhanced cleanliness to reduce particles in sensitive assemblies.

Experience in the industry

Through our experience with plastic parts for electrical engineering, we know the sector-specific requirements for electrical insulation, fire protection, ease of assembly and integration into existing assemblies. We support designers and developers from injection-moulding-appropriate part design and material selection through to sample and series release.

Together with your team, we optimise wall thicknesses, ribbing, joining and parting planes to achieve process-safe injection moulding processes with low scrap rates. The result is functionally safe plastic parts for electrical engineering that integrate seamlessly into your inspection concepts, assembly processes and quality requirements.