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Due to the lack of high pressures during the molding process, structural foam parts generally have thicker wall sections. Also, structural foams have a significant density reduction, sometimes as large as 40%, from its base material. They typically exhibit excellent strength-to-weight ratio, improved thermal and acoustic insulation properties, but suffer from lower tensile strengths.

Compared with injection molding, structural foam molding can use cheaper and lighter molds (aluminum instead of tool steel), and it can be used to produce larger parts. The downside is lower production speed. The setup cost of structural foam molding is also lower, making it a viable alternative to injection molding for low-volume applications.

In additional to HDPE, other polymers commonly used in structural foam molding are:

• Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)
• Polypropylene (PP)
• Polyethylene (PE)

Other than needing thicker wall sections, the design considerations of structural foam molding is very similar to those of injection molding.

• Lower setup costs than injection molding
• Allows the use of lighter, less expensive (aluminum) molds
• Allows larger product sizes than injection molding
• Lower internal stresses than injection and compression molding

• Higher setup costs than compression molding
• Lower production rate than injection molding