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Injection PDF
Injection PDF
WALL THICKNESS
Solid shape molding is not desired in injection molding due to following reasons.
Therefore we have basic rule for plastic part design; as far as possible wall
thickness should be uniform or constant through out the part. This wall
thickness is called nominal wall thickness.
If there is any solid section in the part, it should be made hollow by introducing
core. This should ensure uniform wall thickness around the core.
What are the considerations for deciding wall thickness?
It must be thick and stiff enough for the job. Wall thickness could be 0.5 to
5mm.
It must also be thin enough to cool faster, resulting lower part weight and
higher productivity.
A plastic part with varying wall thickness will experience differing cooling rates
and different shrinkage. In such case achieving close tolerance becomes very
difficult and many times impossible. Where wall thickness variation is essential,
the transition between the two should be gradual.
CORNERS
When two surfaces meet, it forms a corner. At corner, wall thickness increases to
1.4 times the nominal wall thickness. This results in differential shrinkage and
molded-in stress and longer cooling time. Therefore, risk of failure in service
increases at sharp corners.
SINK MARK IS INEVITABLE.
Therefore void can not be perfectly filled in. Hence sink mark is inevitable.
cubic-cm / g cubic-cm /
g
PS 0.97 1.05 8%
(amorphous)
Density Density
To solve this problem, the corners should be smoothened with radius. Radius
should be provided externally as well as internally. Never have internal sharp
corner as it promotes crack. Radius should be such that they confirm to constant
wall thickness rule. It is preferable to have radius of 0.6 to 0.75 times wall
thickness at the corners. Never have internal sharp corner as it promotes crack.
Ribs in plastic part improve stiffness of the part and increases rigidity. It also
enhances mold-ability as they hasten melt flow in the direction of the rib.
Ribs are placed along the direction of maximum stress and deflection on non-
appearance surfaces of the part. Mould filling, shrinkage and ejection should also
influence rib placement decisions.
Ribs that do not join with vertical wall should not end abruptly. Gradual transition
to nominal wall should reduce the risk for stress concentration.
Rib thickness should be between 0.5 to 0.6 times nominal wall thickness
to avoid sink mark.
Rib base should have radius 0.25 to 0.4 times nominal wall thickness.
Distance between two ribs should be 2 to 3 times (or more) nominal wall
thickness.
MOULDABILITY consideration
Resistance to flow and viscosity determines the filling pressure. Filling pressure
variation should be gradual and not abrupt. It should be remembered that flow
thinner section introduces shearing of melt, resulting in lowering of melt viscosity.
This is the shear thinning nature of thermoplastics melt.
When melt streams reach boundary at the same time it can be called balanced
filling. When some stream reaches the boundary early and some other streams
reach late this time lag to complete the filling of part results in induction of
molded-in stresses in the part.
Unbalancing flow can be corrected by using flow-leader / flow deflector and
multiple gates so as to form the melt stream shape very close to the projected
shape of the part.
Ideally all the melt streams should move with the same velocity till the mould is
filled. Variation in cross section area (due to changes in wall thickness or slot)
introduces variation in melt stream velocity. Hence the freezing of melt can not
be uniform through out the part. It should be realized that while freezing, cross
section through which melt can flow reduces thereby introducing increasing
resistance to flow. When some stream freeze faster then other, faster freezing
streams introduce increasing resistance to flow. Therefore, balance in filling can
not occur and molded-in stresses are induced.
Normally weld line region is filled at the end of injection stroke or during pressure
phase.
Strength of the weld line is weak when partially frozen melt front meet. The
orientation at the joint remains perpendicular to direction of flow -a sign of
weakness.
Weld line can form by melt stream flowing in same direction or in opposite
direction.
It is not possible to eliminate weld line, but it can be made sufficiently stronger or
its position can be altered.
COOLING consideration
EJECTION considerations
SUMMARY
Maximum Shear The shear stress during filling should be less than a
Stress critical value. This critical value depends on
material and application. This data is available with
Mold flow software.
Avoid hesitation Melt flow from thick to thin section is better for
effect mold-ability.
Thermal shut off The runners must be sized for thermal shut off
of runners. when the cavity is just filled and sufficiently packed,
to avoid over-pack or reverse flow, in and out of
cavity, after the mould is filled.
Core and Cavity Core and cavity Dimensions computed taking into
dimensions consideration mould-makers tolerance, mould
shrinkage and post molding shrinkage.
MECHANICAL consideration
BOSSES
The boss is required for fixing or mounting some other part with screw. It is
cylindrical in shape. The boss may be linked at base with the mother part or it
may be linked at side. Linking on side may results in thick section of plastic,
which is not desirable as it can cause sink mark and increase cooling time. This
problem can be solved by linking boss through a rib to the side wall as shown in
the sketch. Boss can be made rigid by providing buttress ribs as shown in the
sketch.
Screw is used on the boss to fasten some other part. There are thread forming
type of screws and tread cutting type of screws. Thread forming screws are used
on thermoplastics and thread cutting screws are used on inelastic thermo set
plastic parts.
Thread forming screws produce female threads on internal wall of boss by cold
flow plastic is locally deformed rather than cut.
Screw boss must proper dimensions to withstand screw insertion forces and the
load placed on the screw in service.
The size of the bore relative to the screw is critical for resistance to thread
stripping and screw pull out.
Bore has slightly larger diameter at entry recess for a short length. This
helps in locating screw before driving in. It also reduces stresses at the
open end of the boss.
Care should be taken to ensure strong weld joints around the screw bore
in boss.
Care should be taken to avoid molded-in stress in boss as it can fail under
the aggressive environment.
Friction and
Ratio of bore size to screw diameter.
When force required to hold something down exceeds the screw pull out force,
the screw thread in the plastics boss will shear off.
Boss material,
Thread dimensions and
Length of screw engagement.