A Unique Sport

Goalball is an eccentric sport unique to the Paralympic games and is played by athletes with a visual impairment. Much like soccer, each team attempts to get the ball into the other team’s goal.  This is where the similarities end, however. In order to level the playing field completely, all competitors must wear eye-shades to completely black out their vision; the ball is perceived audibly and the court features a tactile surface to aid in orientation. The eyeshades must be thick enough to completely black out all light, strong enough to survive a rough sporting environment, and not cause significant discomfort to the competitor. Unfortunately, the process of injection moulding the eye-shades can leave flaws in the finished product:

• Bubbles can cause stress concentrations, which reduce the life-span
• Rapid solidification in the mould causes insufficient mould filling
• Elasticity of the melt during processing results in distortions
• Thermal degradation can affect the physical properties of the goggles, making them weaker

Injection Moulding is a popular choice for manufacturing high volume products, however, if it is not properly controlled, can lead to any number of the above flaws. Read here to find out how the CEAST SmartRHEO Capillary Rheometer can help your company enhance its injection moulding Research, Design, and Quality Control processes.