CAE DS Injection Casting Design

Corners (roundings)
Technical University of Gabrovo Georgi Rashev

Rounding of pointed corners and edges in injection-molded products is an impor-

tant feature in their design. Rounding improve the quality of the finished parts.
Corners are rounded for the following reasons:
more favorable conditions are created for the flow of the material in the
mould;
the hydraulic resistance is lowered and filling the cavity with the polymer
melt is facilitated;
internal stresses and stress raisers are reduced during production;
the concentration of stresses during operation of the finished products is
avoided, which improves their mechanical strength and resistance in case
of cyclic loads;
deformations in the products are reduced, which improves the accuracy
and the outer appearance;
the rigidity of box-like products is increased;
the production of the mould work surfaces is facilitated;
the mould wear is reduced and its service life is increased.

Both external and internal edges and corners can be rounded.

There are also cases when it is impossible to make roundings. Although not com-
mon, these are the cases when the service conditions make roundings impossible,
when the product edges coincide with the mould parting surfaces or when there are
other specific conditions in the mould design.
The value of the corner radius depends on the shape and dimensions of the finished
product, the service conditions, the material of which it is made, the type and
quantity of the fillers used and the location of the rounding.
Depending on their geometrical position, we can distinguish: roundings of internal
edges that converge in angles 2, roundings of internal edges that do not converge
in angles 3, and roundings of external edges and angles Fig.1.

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Fig.1 Roundings in products

Corners (roundings) - 1
 CAE DS Injection Casting Design

The recommended minimum values for roundings of products made of different

types of plastics are given in Table 1.

Table 1 Recommended minimum bending radii

Type of plastic Filler Minimum corner radius

of internal edges

Collecting Non-
angles collecting
angles

PVC, PP, PA, PPO, PEHD,

- 0.6 0.4
PELD, ABS, SAN, PETP
PS, PC, PMMA - 0.6 1.0 0.4 0.6
PP, PA, PC, ABS, SAN, PETP, Chalk, glass 1.5 2.0 1.5 2.0
PBTP, POM fibres

The corner radii of internal edges and external angles are determined from the
internal angles using the formula
R r + a, mm where R corner radius of external wall
r corner radius of internal wall
a wall thickness

r
r

R
Fig. 2. Corner radii

Rounding of internal and external edges of products of greater depth are made
with a constant or variable radius along the edge. Recommended minimum corner
radii of internal edges are given in Table 2.

Table 2. Corner radii of the internal edges of products of greater depth

Product up to 50 100 150 200 250 300 400

depth, mm
50 100 150 200 250 300 400 500

Internal 1.5 2.5 4 5 6 8 12 20

radius, r, mm

If necessary, wall thickness in the area of the corner radius can be thickened. For
products having a wall thickness from 2 to 4 mm, the recommended fillet is at least
1 mm.

Corners (roundings) - 2