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To produce high quality appearance interior parts, precise pattern forming or gloss reduction of three-dimensional door trim cover materials are utilized. In the preparation of formed trim cover using polyvinyl chloride (PVC), prior pattern forming on original cover material or post-pattern forming with vacuum forming dies are employed. In the latter case, the die is usually made of epoxy resin. Although vacuum holes are prepared on the resin die as necessary, the lack of uniformity in air permeability causes inferior pattern transferability. In this development, special porous ceramic die is used as die material so that trim cover material can be evenly sucked through the fine pores on its surface. As a result, a door trim forming die of superior pattern transferability has realized.

Permeable metal dies are used for plastic injection molding and can be manufactured by process such as conventional machining, electro -discharge machining and etching. The main feature of these metal dies is the permeability they posses throughout their entire mass which eliminates gas-related problems. Current applications include injection dies for production of various automotive parts, such as steering column covers and door trims. Results of application of the permeable metal die in Injection Molding: 1. Permeable metal dies produce high quality products while eliminating defects like burning, short-shot, sink marks and irregular luster. 2. Permeable metal dies produce low-gloss ratio products without gloss-less treatment. In this paper, the methods of fabrication for the permeable metal die, the characteristics of the material, and its effectiveness in the production of plastic automotive parts are reported.