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Designing
for Moldability
Volume 1: A Quick-Reference
User Guide for Rapid Injection Molding
for Engineers and Designers
Proto Labs, Inc. 5540 Pioneer Creek Drive, Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
What is rapid
injection molding?
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
nn
nn
No internal threads
Fast real injection molded plastic parts
nn CAD to plastic as fast as 1 day
nn
nn
nn
Automotive
Appliance
nn
Electronics
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Up Against the
Wall (Thickness)
A Core Issue
Core out parts to eliminate thick walls.
nn You get the same functionality
in a good molded part.
As Designed
As Molded
Original Geometry
Warp
Cored Geometry
Cored Geometry
* Tip: Good injection molded part design relies on a consistent
wall thickness to minimize the potential for warped or
distorted parts.
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
A Warped Personality
Resin
Recommended Wall
Thickness (Inches)
ABS
0.0450.140
Acetal
0.0300.120
Acrylic
0.0250.150
Bosses
0.0300.120
Draft
Core-cavity
0.0751.000
Nylon
0.0300.115
Texture
Polycarbonate
0.0400.150
Side Actions
Polyester
0.0250.125
Bumpoff
10
Polyethylene
0.0300.200
Pickouts
10
10
Polyphenylene sulfide
0.0200.180
Text
11
Polypropylene
0.0250.150
Tab Gate
11
Polystyrene
0.0350.150
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
nn
Bad
Better
Stress Riser
* Tip: If Protomold asks for greater wall thickness on your 4060%
T wall, consider increasing your T wall to compensate
for this increased thickness to reduce the risk of sink.
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Get Drafted
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Core-cavity
Texture
Deep Rib Approach
Core-cavity Approach
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Bumpoff
Pickouts
High-Aspect-Ratio
Small Diameter Holes
* Tip: Mold can be made core-cavity, allowing room for
the part to bumpoff after the mold opens.
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
10
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
nn
nn
nn
Thin edge
breaks at gate
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
11
Self-Mating Parts
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Be Tolerant
nn
nn
Elements include:
nn
nn
Interlocking rim
nn
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
12
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Its Material
When choosing a material for your part, relevant properties might include mechanical, physical, chemical resistance,
heat, electrical, flammability, or UV resistance. Resin manufacturers, compounders and independent resin search engines
have data online. For resin links, visit www.protomold.com/DesignGuidelines_ResinInformation.aspx#links.
Commodity Resins:
cheap, low to medium properties.
Engineering Resins:
more $, higher properties.
Commodity Resins
Engineering Resins
Polypropylenesoft, tough,
cheap, chemical resistant,
makes good living hinges
Polyethylenesoft, tough,
cheap, chemical resistant
ABS
nn Inexpensive
nn Impact Resistant
nn Equipment and handheld housings
nn Susceptible to sink
High Density
nn Low Density
Polystyrenehard, clear, cheap,
brittle but can be toughened
Acetal
nn More expensive
nn Strong
nn Good lubricity and machinability
nn Very sensitive to excess
wall thickness
nn
LCP
nn Very expensive
nn Very strong
nn Fills very thin parts
nn Weak knit lines
Colors:
Stock, Semi-Custom, Custom.
Nylon
nn Reasonable cost
nn Very strong
nn Susceptible to shrink and warp,
particularly glass-filled
nn Absorbs waterdimensional
and property change
Polycarbonate
nn Moderate cost
nn Very tough
nn Good dimensional accuracy
nn Susceptible to chemical
stress cracking, voids
PolyestersPBT, PET
PPS, PSU, PES, PEI
Many, many others
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
13
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
Select Colors
Stock colorsfrom the resin vendor are typically black and natural. Natural might be white, beige, amber,
or some other color. Semi-custom colors are created when colorant pellets are added to natural resins.
For available colors, visit www.protomold.com/DesignGuidelines_ResinInformation.aspx#Colors.
There is no added charge for our inventory colors. They are not an exact match and may create streaks or
swirls in parts. Custom colors match exactly to a Pantone or color chip. You work with a compounder and
provide us the resin. This process is slower and more expensive, but produces a more accurate match.
Resin Additives
(Short) glass fibers are used to strengthen a composite
and reduce creep, especially at higher temperatures.
They make the resin stronger, stiffer, and more
brittle. They can cause warp due to the difference in
cooling shrink between the resin and the fibers.
Long glass fibers are used like short glass fibers to strengthen
and reduce creep, but make the resin much stronger and stiffer.
The downside is that they can be particularly challenging
to mold parts with thin walls and/or long resin flows.
Aramid (Kevlar) fibers are like glass fiber
only not as strong, but less abrasive.
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
14
Table of contents
What is Injection Molding
Applications of Rapid
Injection Molding
Wall Thickness
Cored Geometry
Be the Hero!
nn
nn
nn
Warp
Sharp Corners
Ribs
Bosses
Draft
Core-cavity
Texture
Side Actions
Bumpoff
10
Pickouts
10
10
Text
11
Tab Gate
11
12
Tolerance
12
Choosing a Material
13
Select Colors
14
Resin Additives
14
Be the Hero!
15
nn
Questions?
Proto Labs, Inc., 5540 Pioneer Creek Dr., Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680
15
Proto Labs, Inc. 5540 Pioneer Creek Drive, Maple Plain, MN 55359 USA | 877.479.3680