DESIGN TIPS 2015

PENTAGON PLASTICSLTD
Unit 4 Blatchford Road
Horsham
West Sussex
RH13 5QR
Tel: 01403 264397
Pentagonplastics.co.uk

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
A Guidance Document for Designers of All Abilities

What is Plastic Injection Moulding?

Injection Moulding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic
and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced
into a mould cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity. After a
product is designed, usually by an industrial designer or an engineer, moulds are made by
a mould maker (or toolmaker) from metal, usually either steel or aluminium, and precision
machined to form the features of the desired part. Injection moulding is widely used for
manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest component to entire body panels of
cars.

What does Pentagon Plastics Offer as a Service?

Pentagon Plastics is a privately owned ISO9001 accredited Plastic Injection Moulder of

bespoke technical thermoplastic products. Pentagon offers one site of manufacture in its
comprehensive Injection Mould Shop which is supported by its Rapid Prototyping and
Toolmaking services.

Design Assistance services include the following: -

Plastic Material Selection Evaluation of Product Design

Feed Position Method of extraction from the Tool
Optimum Material for Tooling Type of Tooling Configuration
No of cavities based on Volumes Suitable Packaging

Design Tips Document

The product design is key to the Injection Moulding process for two main reasons:

The part has to function as required for the intended application.

It has to be possible to design a mould tool that will produce the part within the
budget for the project.

The two points detailed above are however only the starting point of the elements that a
designer needs to take into consideration. The information we have detailed is intended as
a guide to highlight some of the key areas but the strong recommendation is to design out
cost wherever possible.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
This document will look at the following areas to hopefully assist in the design process:

1. General Design Tips

Uniform Wall Thickness

◦ Thin Wall
◦ Thick Wall
◦ Rib to Wall
◦ Warpage
◦ Sink
Coring Out
◦ When Required
◦ Methods of Achieving
Surface Finish
◦ Types Available
◦ Draft Required
◦ Advantages / Disadvantages

2. Product Design Tips in Relation to Tooling Considerations

Parting Line
◦ What it is
◦ Drafting
◦ Open & Shut Tooling (lower cost)
◦ More than one parting line (side movement, expensive)
◦ Through Holes
Core & Cavity
◦ What Are They
◦ What Governs Which Side is Which (ejection)
◦ Solid Core /Cavity or Split (cost, venting, polishing considerations
Feed
◦ What is a Sprue / Runner / Gate
◦ Types of Feed (Hot, Cold, Direct, Edge, etc)
◦ Consideration of Aesthetics
Ejection
◦ What it is
◦ Types (Pin, Sleeve, Stripper, Up / Away, Up / In, Bump Off, etc)

3. Material Considerations

Importance of Deciding Early (Shrinkage & Tool Material)

Properties to Consider (Mechanical, Thermal, Tensile, Impact, Cost, etc)

List of Materials (Guide Table)

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
SECTION 1 - GENERAL DESIGN TIPS

Uniform Wall Thickness

Good injection moulded part design relies on consistent wall thickness to minimise the
potential for warped or distorted parts. As the plastic solidifies in the mould it freezes from
the outside toward the inside. In thick sections this results in inward pulling stresses due to
contraction that can cause sink marks on the outer surfaces of the part. In addition,

because thinner sections will freeze faster than thicker sections there is also the possibility
of stresses building up between thick & thin sections resulting in warpage.

The use of thinner, uniform wall thicknesses helps to avoid sink. A = Boss in corner causes
sink. B = Thinner walls on boss eliminates sink. C = Thick walls cause sink, warp & excess
shrink. D = Thinner walls give accurate part.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
Warpage due to stresses in step transitions between wall thicknesses can be improved
through the use of a ramp and gussets can be helpful to provide support in corners.

A = High stress concentrations. B = Reduced stress concentrations. C = Thinner walls

result in shrinkage during cooling. D = Gussets provide additional support.

Thin ribs on thicker walls walls may provide stiffness but also can result in sinking on the
outside of the wall. As a rule of thumb, the thickness of the rib should be about half of that
of the wall to prevent this.

Coring Out

Plastic moulded parts which are too thick or have thick sections can be subject to excess
shrink, sink, internal bubbles, voids and poor cosmetics. This is due to the fact that plastic
shrinks as it cools from the molten injected state to solid room temperature parts.

Coring out is a technique where material is removed from a part leaving distinct walls and
ribs which provide enough strength and mating surfaces for other parts in the assembly.
Coring out is necessary to make the part mouldable and also saves cost and weight. The
key points are leaving ribs in the right location and size to maintain strength and retaining
features that interface with others.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
Surface Finish

Surface finish on a plastic part can serve many functions, from improving grip to hiding
fingerprints to facilitating paint adhesion. Textures and lettering can be moulded on the
surfaces as an aesthetic aid or for incorporating identifying information for end users.
Texturing also helps hide surface defects such as knit lines and other surface
imperfections. The depth of texture or letters is somewhat limited and extra draft needs to
be incorporated to allow for withdrawal of the part from the mould without damaging the
surface.

Draft for texturing is somewhat dependant on the mould design and the specific texture
requirement. As a general guideline, 1.5 degrees minimum per 0.025mm depth of texture
needs to be allowed for in addition to the normal draft. More draft may be needed for
heavier textures such as leather grain with a depth of 0.125mm that requires a minimum
angle of 7.5 degrees.

There is usually a higher cost associated with aesthetic mirror type finished surfaces as
these require greater labour input with regard to the polishing of the mould.

No Draft Angle – Incorrect Draft Angle – Correct

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
SECTION 2 - PRODUCT DESIGN TIPS

Parting Line

When developing a 3D CAD model to be injection moulded, you may wish to spend some
time thinking about where its parting line will be as the location can affect your part in
several ways.

For some parts the location for the parting line is obviously right down the middle, while for
more complex parts it may not be so obvious. Take a simple cup for example. The outer
face is formed by one mould half while the cup's inner surface and brim will be formed by
the other. The parting line occurs along the outside edge of the brim of the cup.

A part that can be made with a straight pull mould has all its features designed so that
when the two halves of the mould pull straight away from each other, there is no mould
metal that wants to pass through the plastic part. Undercuts on the part require pieces to
pull out sideways, perpendicular to the direction of pull (see below) and add significant
cost to tooling.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
Whilst not always avoidable, the necessity of a side movement (or action) can sometimes
be designed out as follows:

Core & Cavity

A mould tool consists of two primary components, the ejection half and the ejector half.
Plastic resin enters the mould tool through a sprue in the injection half; the sprue bushing
seals tightly against the nozzle of the injection barrel of the moulding machine to allow
molten plastic to flow into the cavity. The sprue bushing directs the molten plastic to the
cavity through channels that are machined into the ejection and injection halves. These
channels are referred to as runners. The molten plastic flows through the runner and
enters one or more specialised gates and into the cavity to form the desired part.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
The Mould Core-Cavity Approach

Consider core-cavity approaches when possible as an alternative to deep sections. The

illustrated core-cavity produces a similar geometry but this mould will be faster and less
expensive to manufacture. The quality of the final part will be improved to as polishing is
much easier on core-cavity geometries than down inside deep sections.

Feed

In order for the molten plastic to flow into the mould cavities, several channels are
integrated into the mould tool design. First, the molten plastic enters the mould through a
sprue. Additional channels called runners carry the molten plastic from the sprue to all of
the cavities that must be filled.

At the end of each runner, the molten plastic enters the cavity through a gate which directs
the flow. The molten plastic that solidifies inside these runners is attached to the part and
must be separated after the part has been ejected from the mould. However, sometimes
hot runner systems are used which independently heat the channels allowing the
contained material to remain molten and detached from the part.

Another type of channel that is built into the mould tool is cooling channels. These
channels allow water to flow through the mould walls adjacent to the cavity and cool the
molten plastic.

Ejection

The injection moulding process mainly uses pins to eject parts from the mould tool during
production. Designers should be aware of the need to accommodate such pins. Pins of
various sizes are used to push the plastic part out of the mould after it has solidified. The
sizes and arrangement of these pins are selected to minimise the impact on the part
design.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
Sleeves, stripper plates, up/away, up/in and bump off are also alternative methods of
ejection.

SECTION 3 - MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS

There are many types of materials that may be used in the injection moulding process.

Most polymers may be used including all thermoplastics, some thermosets and some
elastomers. When these materials are used in the injection moulding process, their raw
form is usually small pellets or a fine powder. Also, colourants may be added in the
process to control the colour of the final part.

The selection of a material for creating injection moulded parts is not solely based upon
the desired characteristics of the final part. While each material has different properties
that will affect the strength and function of the final part, these properties also dictate the
parameters used in processing these materials. Each material requires a different set of
processing parameters in the injection moulding process, including the injection
temperature, injection pressure, mould temperature, ejection temperature and cycle time.

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
A comparison of some commonly used materials is shown below:

Material Name Abbreviation Properties Applications

Strong, rigid, excellent fatigue

Bearings, cams, gears,
resistance, excellent creep
handles, plumbing
Acetal POM resistance, chemical resistance,
components, rollers, rotors,
moisture resistance, naturally
slide guides, valves
opaque white, low/medium cost
Display stands, knobs,
Rigid, brittle, scratch resistant,
lenses, light housings,
Acrylic PMMA transparent, optical clarity,
panels, reflectors, signs,
low/medium cost
shelves, trays
Strong, flexible, low mould
Automotive (consoles,
shrinkage (tight tolerances)
Acrylonitrile panels, trim, vents) boxes,
ABS chemical resistance, electroplating
Butadiene Styrene guages, housings, inhalors,
capability, naturally opaque,
toys
low/medium cost

Cellulose Acetate CA Tough, transparent, high cost Handles, eyeglass frames

High strength, fatigue resistant,

chemical resistant, low creep, low Bearings, bushings, gears,
Polyamide 6 (Nylon) PA6
friction, almost opaque/white, rollers, wheels
medium/high cost
High strength, fatigue resistant,
Polyamide 6/6 chemical resistant, low creep, low Handles, levers, small
PA6/6
(Nylon) friction, almost opaque/white, housings, zip ties
medium/high cost
High strength, fatigue resistant,
Polyamide 11+12 chemical resistance, low creep, Air filters, eyeglass frames,
PA11+12
(Nylon) low friction, almost opaque to safety masks
clear, very high cost
Automotive (panels,
Very tough, temperature lenses, consoles) bottles,
Polycarbonate PC resistance, dimensional stability, containers, housings, light
transparent, high cost covers, reflectors, safety
helmets and shields
Automotive (filters,
handles, pumps) bearings,
Polyester – Rigid, heat resistance, chemical cams, electrical
PBT, PET
Thermoplastic resistance, medium/high cost components (connectors,
sensors) gears, housings,
rollers, switches, valves
Tough, very high chemical
Polyether Sulphone PES Valves
resistance, clear, very high cost

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product
 Strong, thermal stability, chemical Aircraft components,
Polyetheretherketone PEEK resistance, abrasion resistance, electrical connectors, pump
low moisture absorption impellers, seals
Electrical components
Heat resistance, flame resistance, (connectors, boards,
Polyetherimide PEI
transparent (amber colour) switches) covers, sheilds,
surgical tools
Lightweight, tough and flexible,
Polyethylene – Low Kitchenware, housings,
LDPE excellent chemical resistance,
Density covers and containers
natural waxy appearance, low cost
Tough and stiff, excellent chemical
Polyethylene – High Chair seats, housings,
HDPE resistance, natural waxy
Density covers and containers
appearance, low cost
Tough, heat resistance, flame Automotive (housings,
resistance, dimensional stability, panels) electrical
Polyphenylene Oxide PPO
low water absorption, components, housings,
electroplating capability, high cost plumbing components
Bearings, covers, fuel
Polyphenylene Very high strength, heat system components,
PPS
Sulphide resistance, brown, very high cost guides, switches and
shields
Lightweight, heat resistance, high
chemical resistance, scratch Automotive (bumpers,
Polypropylene PP resistance, natural waxy covers, trim) bottles, caps,
appearance, tough and stiff, low crates, handles, housings
cost
Polystyrene –
GPPS Brittle, transparent, low cost Cosmetics packaging, pens
General Purpose

Impact strength, rigidity,

Polystyrene – High Electronic housings, food
HIPS toughness, dimensional stability,
impact containers, toys
naturally translucent, low cost
Electrical insulation,
Polyvinyl Chloride - Tough, flexible, flame resistance,
PVC housewares, medical
Plasticised transparent or opaque, low cost
tubing, shoe soles, toys

Polyvinyl Chloride - Tough, flexible, flame resistance, Outdoor applications

UPVC
Rigid transparent or opaque, low cost (drains, fittings, gutters)

Stiff, brittle, chemical resistance,

Housewares, knobs,
Styrene Acrylonitrile SAN heat resistance, hydrolytically
syringes
stable, transparent, low cost
Bushings, electrical
Thermoplastic
TPE/R Tough, flexible, high cost components, seals,
Elastomer/Rubber
washers

From concept and development through to tooling and the repeat production of your bespoke product