How to Properly Size

Gates, Runners and

Sprues
 Step 1: Determine the Material Viscosity

• the melt-flow index stated on a material data

sheet is not a very reliable indication of how
viscous a material is or not because it does not
take into account shear thinning.
• Shear thinning is when the material becomes less
viscous due to frictional heat during injection.
• For example, a polyethylene with a 10 MFI is
probably not going to flow the same as a
polycarbonate with the same 10 MFI rating.
Step 2: Determine the Gate Dimensions
• The ideal gate size is based on
 the wall thickness of the part,
 the volume of the part,
 the material viscosity under processing
conditions,
 the flow rate of the material going through the
gate,
 the flow length from the gate to the end of fill.
• Let’s first discuss a typical rectangular edge
gate,
which in many ways also applies to lap,
chisel, tapered, fan, film, curtain, ring, disk
and diaphragm gates.
Edge gates have three components:
 depth,
 width
 land length
 Gate Depth
• The gate depth is an extremely critical dimension
and determine the gate depth first.
• It defines when the material in the gate will freeze. 
• If it is too shallow, it will freeze off too early and
prevent additional material from entering the cavity
as the molten material cools and shrinks.
• The part will then be underpacked, which can cause
sink, warp, voids, poor surface finish and
dimensional inconsistencies.
 Gate Depth
• If the gate is too deep,
 the packing phase will take longer than
necessary because you typically wait for the
gate to freeze before beginning to retract
the screw.
 Otherwise, the material can flow
backwards through the gate and into the
massive runner, which can cause a void in
the part.
 Gate Depth
• start with a gate depth of
 60% to 70% of the part’s wall thickness at the gate for
high-viscosity or highly shear-sensitive materials, such
as acrylic or rigid PVC;
 50% to 60% of the part’s wall thickness for medium-
flow materials; 
 40% to 50% for low-viscosity, low-shear-
sensitivity materials, such as polyethylene or nylon.
• Use the lower percentages for thinner-walled parts and
the higher percentage for thicker-walled parts, because
thicker parts need more time to pack out.
• The volume of the part should dictate the width of the
gate, or the number of gates required—not the depth of
the gate.
 Gate Width
• The decision on how wide to make a gate
should be based on
 the flow length into the cavity,
 the flow rate through the gate,
 the flow speed through the gate,
 the volume of the part.
the gate width should be based on
how much material needs to go in and
how fast.
• The vent depth is a relatively fixed value based
on the viscosity of the material.
• The gate depth is a relatively fixed value based
on the wall thickness of the part.
• The vent width is based on how much and how
fast the air inside the cavity needs to go out.
• You don’t want a vent, or a gate, to be overly
restrictive,
 cause an increase in injection pressure,
 difficulty in filling the part,
 high shear,
 Gate Width

• the importance of how fast material goes

through a gate and into a cavity. 
• When you increase either the gate depth or
the gate width, you increase the flow area.
• The larger the flow area, the slower the speed
of the material going through the gate.
• Table 1 shows what happens to the speed of the
material going through four different gate widths.
 All four gates have the same 0.050-in. depth, but
their widths range from 0.100 to 0.800 in.
 Every time you double the gate width you cut the
speed of the material going through the gate in
half.
 the flow rate, or volume of material going into the
cavity, never changes regardless of the gate area.
• the speed of the material going through the
gate can be so slow that it starts to freeze off
before the part is packed out.
• This condition rarely happens with deep gates
filling thick parts,
• but it is a common problem for very wide gates
filling thin parts, such as is the case with fan,
film, curtain, ring, disk or diaphragm gates.
Flow rate and flow speed are cut in half at
every runner branch.
Sub-Gates