Practical Guide to Rotational Moulding

Practical Guide to Rotational Moulding, Third Edition, takes a step-by-step approach to rotomoulding, covering applications, moulds, machinery, materials, and design. This third edition has been thoroughly revised to include the latest advances, including novel materials and moulds, new products, and automation.

The book begins with a chapter that introduces the rotational moulding process, analyses advantages and disadvantages, and explores common applications for rotomoulded products. The subsequent chapters provide detailed, methodical coverage of moulds, machinery, materials, and design for functionality, supported by clear illustrations and diagrams. Finally, challenges and future developments are discussed.

This hands-on technical guide helps engineers, designers and practitioners to understand all aspects of rotomoulding, with the aim of producing performant end products and parts, with uniform wall thickness and potentially in complex shapes. The book is also of great interest to professionals across the plastics industry, as well as researchers and advanced students in plastics engineering, industrial design, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials science and engineering. 

• Provides a strong fundamental understanding of all aspects of the rotational moulding process, from material to finished product
• Offers a highly practical combination of technical content and clear illustrations
• Covers the latest developments in rotomoulding, including novel materials and moulds, new products, and automated systems

Roy J. Crawford was Vice Chancellor of the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Prior to this he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. At Queen’s University, Dr. Crawford was responsible for establishing the Polymer Processing Research Centre which included the Research Group on rotational moulding of plastics, which he also founded. In 1998, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and in 2005, he was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers. In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, Dr. Crawford was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tertiary education. Dr. Crawford sadly passed away in 2016.

Mark P. Kearns is Moulding Research Manager of the Polymer Processing Research Centre (PPRC) within the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, he has a Master’s Degree in Rotational Moulding and has managed polymer processing research, development and industrial support and training projects for companies and industrial trade associations across Europe, Australasia, South Africa, North and South America for more than 25 years. Following an initial two years as Deputy Production Manager of a UK rotomoulding company, Mark has since project managed over 20 applied industrial technology transfer projects and has helped co-supervise rotomoulding Post-Doc, PhD, MSc and BEng students since the early 1990s. He has co-authored two books on Rotomoulding, over 70 papers, articles & conference proceedings, and lectures extensively worldwide on rotomoulding technology.