10/22/2016 5ExpertTipsForDesigningBetterPlasticParts

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Home / 2016 / August / SolidWorks3DDesignSoftware,SolidWorksSimulation,TechTips / 5ExpertTipsForDesigningBetterPlasticParts

Categories 5ExpertTipsForDesigningBetterPlasticParts
3DPrinting ByAndrewJaskeyonAugust9,2016
Academia
CaseStudies
Ifyouhaveeverbeentaskedwithdesigningaplasticpart,youundoubtedlyhavehitsomesnagsonthe
DriveWorks
EnterprisePDM waytogettingthepartintoproduction.Inschool,youlearnthatinjectionmoldingallowsforalmost
NewEnglandBusiness limitlesscreativity(anditstruethatinjectionmoldingdoesallowforaremarkableamountofdesign
SolidWorks3DDesign flexibility,whilealsobeingcosteffective).However,intherealworld,itcanseemlikegettingapartinto
Software productionrequiresaneverendingcycleofchangestoallowforinjectionmoldingprocess.Usethesefive
SolidWorksComposer tipstogetyourpartintoplasticfaster!
SolidWorksElectrical
SolidWorksSimulation
SustainableDesign 1.WatchOutForWallThickness
Stratasys
TechTips
ThisWeekInEngineering Notunlikethe3rulesofrealestate(location,location,location),Iftherewerethreerulesofplasticpart
&Design design,itwouldbe,wallthickness,wallthickness,wallthickness.Itishardtooveremphasizethe
Vlog importanceofproperwallthickness.Wallthicknessissuescanbedividedintotwobasiccategories,
nominalwallthicknessandunequalwallthickness.Choosingthecorrectnominalwallthicknessiscritical
togettinggoodparts.Ifyourwallthicknessistoothick,youwillbewastingmaterial,presstime,and
VisitOurWebsite likelywillhavecosmeticandstructuralissues.Ifyourpartistoothin,youmayneedtousealarger,more
expensivepress,risktooldamage,andhavecosmeticandstructuralissues.

WhatThicknessIsTheCorrectThickness?

Unfortunately,thereisnotaonesizefitsallanswer,howeverthereareafewguidelines:First,determine
theminimumwallthicknessthatwillmeetyourdesignrequirements,thencheckwiththematerialsupplier
Archives
toseeiftheyhaveanyspecificthicknessguidelinesforthespecificmaterialyouareinterestedin.Ifthere
October2016 isnoinformationavailable,orifyouhavenotselectedaspecificmaterial,youshouldbeintheballpark,
September2016 withawallthicknessfrom.04to.150*withmostplasticmaterials.
August2016
July2016
June2016
May2016 *Theprimaryprocessrelatedfactorsthatwillmakethewallthicknessthinnerorthicker
April2016 arematerialtype(easierflowingplasticscanallowforthinnerwalls),andflowlength
March2016 (thedistancethematerialneedstoflowfromthenozzletothefurthestcornerofthe
February2016 part.)Longerflowlengthsmayrequirethickerwalls.
January2016

1:CAPINCResources
WhatToDoIfYouHaveUnequalWallThickness
Consulting
FAQ Ifthereisnowaytoeliminatetheunequalwallthickness,thebasicguidelineistomakeasgradualofa
MySolidWorks transitionfromthicktothinaspossible.Typically,atransitionlengthofatleast3Xthechangeinwall
SolidWorksTechAlerts thicknesswillreducetheappearanceofcosmeticissues,butamoregradualtransitionisalwaysbetter.
TechTips&Tutorials
TechnicalSupport

2:CorporateBlogs
Composer
DriveWorks
Simpoe
SOLIDWORKSBlog
SOLIDWORKS
Community
SolidWorksTeacher
SOLIDWORKSTechnical
Itisalsoimportanttolookoutforlessobviousthicksections.Onewaytohelpdetermineifyouhavea
Blog
thicksection,istoimaginetryingtofitacircleorsphereintothecrosssectionofthepart.Ifyouareable
Stratasys
tofitacirclethatismorethan10%largerthanyournominalwallthickness,youarelikelylookingata
thicksectionthatshouldbeaddressed.Belowareafewcommonexamples,withtheirassociatedfixes.
3:IndependentBlogs
BrianMcElyea
GabiJack
RickyJordan
RobRodriguez
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Ribtowallratiosshouldbebetween40%and60%.However,addingfilletstothebaseoftheribmustalso
betakenintoconsideration.Theimageabovethefirsttworibsareboth60%ofthewallthickness,
howeverthesecondribalsohasagenerousfillet,resultinginathickerareathaniftheribtowallratio
hadbeen1to1.

Whenanoutsideradiusisnotmatchedtotheinsideradius(shownonleft)theresultcanbeathicksection
atthecornerofthepart.Addthewallthicknesstotheinsideradiustogetanoutsideradiusthatwill
maintainthewallthickness.

Whenabossistooclosetoasidewall,theresultwillbethicksectionswherethebossmergeswiththe
sidewall(shownonleft).Onesolution,istomovethebossawayfromthesidewall,andthenattachwith
anappropriatelysizedribforstrength.

2.AvoidUndercuts

Undercuts,areregionsofapartthatifnotcorrectedwillpreventthemoldfromopening.Oftentheseare
createdbyholesorsnapfeatures.Whilemanyofthesefeaturescanbecreatedusingvarioustoolactions
(secondarytoolmovements),theywillgreatlycontributetothetoolcomplexityandcost.Onewaytoavoid
anundercut,istoputaholeinfromtheoppositesideoftheparttoallowtheundercuttobeformed
withoutaddinganaction.

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10/22/2016 5ExpertTipsForDesigningBetterPlasticParts

Thehighlightedsnapsurfacesarenotabletobepulledoutofthemold(imageleft).Addingathroughhole
allowstheoppositesideofthemoldtocreatetheundersidesurfacesofthesnap.

3.AddDraft,OrAtLeastPlanForIt

Draftmustbeaddedtothewallsofallinjectionmoldedparts.Withoutdraft,partswillstickinthemold.
Whilethereamanyfactorsthataffecthowmuchdraftisneeded,1degreeisagoodstartingpoint.
However,moredraftisalwaysbetter.Anddontforgettodraftyourinternalfeatures(likeribsand
bosses).

Partwithoutdraft(left)andpartwithdraft(right).

Whiletheneedfordraftisrelativelysimpletounderstand,oneareathatisoftenoverlooked(untilitistoo
late)ismismatchofmatingparts,causedbydraft.Often,itisrelativelyeasytoaccountfordraftinthe
beginningofadesign,butpartmismatchcancauseamajorissueiflefttotheendofadesign.

Matingedge(blue)ismismatchedduetodraftnotbeingtakenintoaccount.

4.PlanForGating

Therunnerandgatingsystemismostoftendesignedbythemolderortoolmaker,howeverthisdoesnot
meanthattheneedforgatingcanbeignoredbythepartdesigner.Understandingwheregatesshouldbe
placed,andallowingfortheresultingblemish(typicallyanareaunder.1by.1)isimportant.Ideally
gateswouldbeplacedatthegeometriccenterofthepart.Thiswillallowfortheshortestoverallflow
length(distancetheplasticmustflowfromthegatetotheoutermostpointofthepart).Ifmorethanone
gateisneeded,thegatesshouldbeplacedtobothreducetheflowlength,andmusttakeintoaccountthe
knitlinecreatedbyplasticfromeachgatemeeting.Ideallyapartdesignerwillaccountfortheblemish
causedbythegateandknitlinesbydesigningthepartinsuchawaythatanyblemishisonanon
cosmeticsurface.

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10/22/2016 5ExpertTipsForDesigningBetterPlasticParts

Theproposedgatelocation(blue)islocatedonasurfacethatwillbecoveredbyalabel.

5.PlasticPartsMove,ExpectIt&PlanForIt

Plasticallowsfornearlyinfiniteshapepossibilities,butplasticinjectionmoldedpartscannotbeexpectedto
maintainthesametoleranceasamachinedpieceofmetal.Thisisespeciallyimportanttorememberwhen
prototypesarecreatedusingmachining,orexistingdesignsaremovedtoplasticfrommetal.Agoodrule
ofthumbforatypicalplasticparttoleranceis+.005forthefirstinchoflength,thenaddanaddition
.001perinchupto6inchesandadd.003afterthat.Forexamplea12.5lineardimensionwouldhavea
toleranceof+.028.(Therearemanyconsiderationswhendeterminingthecorrecttolerancingona
specificdimension,andthisisintendedonlyasageneralguide)Inadditiontobasictolerancing,itisalso
importanttounderstandthatplasticpartswillwarpandbow.However,unlikemetalparts,plasticparts
canmoreeasilybeforcedintoplace.Forthisreason,itisoftenagoodideatocreateashiplaporstyle
grovearoundallmatingparts(asopposedtoaflatbuttjoint),becauseanymismatchbetweentheparts
willbehiddenfromtheeye.

Grooveaddedtoreduceappearanceofmismatchduetowarping,tolerance,anddraft.

Whilethesearejustbasicguidelines,theyshouldgreatlyreducetheamountofbackandforthrequiredto
getyourpartsintoproduction.Sometimes,thereareplacesinadesignthattheseguidelinesmustbe
broken,orsituationsthatarebeyondthescopeofbasicrules.Inthesecases,moldfillingsimulationcan
providequickfeedbackaboutwhatissuesstillneedtobeaddressed,longbeforethedesignissentoutfor
molding.

HowToExpertlyFind&FixProblemsInInjectionMoldedParts

Injectionmoldingallowsfora
remarkableamountofdesign
flexibility,whilealsobeingcost
effective.However,gettinga
partintoproductionrequiresa
neverendingcycleofchanges
toallowforinjectionmolding.
Watchtheondemandwebinar

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10/22/2016 5ExpertTipsForDesigningBetterPlasticParts
toseehowmoldfillingsimulationcanhelpavoidand
overcomecommonplasticpartdesignissues.

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Webinar,plasticpartdesign,Simulation,SolidWorks3DDesignSoftware,SolidWorksPlastics,Tech
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