Manufacturing Consideration

Manufacturing Considerations
Injection Molding is a high speed, automated
process that can be used to produce simple
to very complex parts
The part designer must recognize that the
design of the part determines the ease of
molding, the tooling requirements and the
cost
Also the designer must recognize that the
properties of the part are greatly affected by
the mold design and processing conditions
Manufacturing Consideration
Injection molding is a series of
sequential process steps, each of which
has an influence on the properties of the
resultant part
oMold filling
oPacking
oCooling
oEjection
Manufacturing Consideration
Gating
Orientation
Pressure losses
Frozen in stress
Shrinkage and Warpage
Weld/Meld lines
Flow leaders/restrictors

Gating
The gate is the melted plastics entry into the
mold cavity
Usually the thinnest cross section in the
system
The gate type, number of gates and gate
location has a dramatic effect on overall part
quality
oDetermines the mold filling pattern
oInduces shear and shear heating
oAffects shrinkage and warpage
Gating
Gating determines the type and cost of
the mold
oEdge or sub gated parts can be produced
with a standard cold runner two plate mold
oTop center gating or multiple top gating
required a three plate mold
Gate Design Rules
Gate centrally to provide equal flow
length
Gate symmetrically to avoid warpage
Gate into thicker sections for better
filling and packing
Gate long, narrow parts from an end for
uniform flow

Gate Design Rules
Position the gate away from load-
bearing areas
Hide the gate scar
Gate for proper weld-line location and
strong weld lines
Multiple gates shorten flow lengths
Locate gates on either side of a weak
core or insert
Orientation
Almost all injection molded parts have some
degree of frozen-in molecular orientation
The degree is determined by the molecular
weight, relaxation characteristics, and
processing conditions
Orientation greatly affects the properties of
the part
oShrinkage
oStrength
oResidual stresses
Orientation
Mold filling related orientation can be
affected through process variables that
affect mold filling pressure requirements
oFlow direction and speed
oChannel dimensions
oTemperatures
Residual Orientation = Orientation due
to flow - relaxation
How Molecular Orientation
Occurs
Molecular orientation develops during
mold filling as the plastic is injected
through the nozzle, runner, gate and
cavity
The polymer chains become stretched
out due to velocity gradients
The orientation tends to be in the
direction of flow
How Molecular Orientation
Occurs
The blunted shape of most polymer melt
velocity profiles cause most of the orientation
to occur toward the surface.
The molecules at the core remain random
Extreme in injection molding where the melt
adjacent to the cold mold will freeze first,
leading to high interfacial shear stresses and
not allowing for relaxation
Problems are most significant for higher
molecular weight plastics and fiber reinforced
plastics
How Molecular Orientation
Occurs
Effects of Molecular
Orientation
Orientation creates different directional
properties
oStronger in the flow direction
oWeaker in the transverse direction
Effects of Molecular
Orientation
Typical directional property of an
injected molded part
Orientation
The degree of orientation caused by
mold filling is influenced by processing
conditions, material properties, mold
design and part design
oLarge diameter runners, sprues, gates
along with shorter flow lengths will reduce
orientation
oFaster fill rates and higher melt
temperatures tend to promote molecular
relaxation
Mold Filling Pressure Loses
When selecting a gate location, it should be
such that the mold fills uniformly, the pressure
drop is not excessive and the shear rate does
not exceed the limit of the polymer
The designer must obtain an estimate of the
pressure drop to evaluate the moldability of
the part with respect to a proposed gating
scheme
The pressure drop depends on the material,
mold and processing conditions
Mold Filling Pressure Loses
Assuming isothermal, laminar, Newtonian fluid (ok for
engineering estimate) the equations for pressure drop
and shear rate are:
oCylindrical Rectangular
r
L
W
H
L
Mold Filling Pressure Loses
is the shear viscosity
oPa-sec, lb-sec/in
2
is the apparent wall shear rate
oSec
-1
Q is the volumetric flow rate
oM
3
/s, ft
3
/s
Apparent vs Corrected Shear
Viscosity
Most viscosity data is of the form
apparent shear viscosity at the wall as a
function of wall shear rate and
temperature
If shear viscosity is described as
apparent, it is not corrected for pseudo-
plastic behavior
Apparent vs Corrected Shear
Viscosity
The corrected shear viscosity is
oCylinder Rectangle
Estimating Pressure Drop
Determine part volume
Determine volumetric flow rate
Determine apparent shear rate
Determine apparent shear viscosity
Determine true shear viscosity
Determine pressure drop
Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
High impact polystyrene ruler
oSprue 0.313diameter by 2 length
oRunner 0.25diameter by 2.25 length
oEdge Gate 0.08deep by 0.4wide by 0.12 length
oCavity 0.1deep by 1.5wide by 6.03 length
Single cavity
200 degree centigrade
1.5 seconds fill time
n=1

Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Determine part volume
oCylinder

oRectangle
V = L*W*H
Sprue 0.154in
3
Runner 0.110in
3
Edge Gate 0.004in
3
Cavity 0.905in
3

Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Determine volumetric flow rate
oFor single cavity mold
oQ
T
=Q
s
=Q
R
=Q
EG
=Q
C
oQ
T
=V
T/
t
F
V
T
is total volume = 1.173in
3
t
F
is fill time = 1.5 seconds
Q
T
=0.782in
3
/sec
Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Determine apparent shear rate
oCylinder Rectangular




oSprue 259/sec
oRunner 510/sec
oEdge Gate 1830/sec
oCavity 312/sec
Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Determine apparent shear viscosity
oFrom figure
oConversion factor
Lb*sec/in
2
= 6894.7 Pa*sec
Sprue 320 Pa*sec 0.046lb*sec/in
2
Runner 270 Pa*sec 0.039lb*sec/in
2
Gate 180 Pa*sec 0.026lb*sec/in
2
Cavity 305 Pa*sec 0.044lb*sec/in
2

Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Determine true shear viscosity
oCylinder Rectangle



-n=1
Sprue 0.046lb*sec/in
2
Runner 0.039lb*sec/in
2
Gate 0.026lb*sec/in
2
Cavity 0.044lb*sec/in
2

Estimating Pressure Drop
Example
Determine pressure drop
Cylinder Rectangular


Sprue 305 psi
Runner 716 psi
Gate 149 psi
Cavity 1650 psi
Total 2820 psi

Frozen in Stress
Molding factors, such as uneven part
cooling, differential material shrinkage
or frozen in flow stresses cause
undesirable residual stress
Residual stresses can adversely affect
oChemical Resistance
oDimensional stability
oImpact and tensile strength
Shrinkage and Warpage
Injection molding is used to produce parts
with fairly tight dimensional tolerances
Many plastics exhibit relatively large mold
shrinkage values
If a plastic exhibits uneven directional
shrinkage, warpage will result
Shrinkage is affected by the material, the
mold, the part geometry and the processing
conditions
Shrinkage and Warpage
Parts with thick and thin wall sections
can easily warp because the thick
sections take longer to pack and cool,
resulting in uneven shrinkage
oWhen the part is ejected the thicker hotter
sections will continue to cool and shrink
PVT Behavior of Plastics
Plastics have a positive coefficient of
thermal expansion and are highly
compressible in the molten state
Volume of any given mass will change
with both temperature and pressure
Semi-crystalline plastics shrink more
than amorphous because of the ordered
crystalline regions

PVT Behavior
PVT Behavior
Linear Mold Shrinkage
Volumetric shrinkage can be predicted
theoretically if PVT characteristics and the
processing conditions

We need linear shrinkage for cavity design
oLinear Shrinkage = 1-(1-volumetric shrinkage)
1/3
oCavity dimension=Part dimension/(1-linear
shrinkage)
oExpressed in in/in or mm/mm or %
Uneven Shrinkage and
Warpage
Uneven shrinkage is undesirable because it
can lead to not hitting dimensions, internal
stresses and warpage
Main causes
oDifferential shrinkage due to orientation
oDifferential cooling due to differences in cooling
rate from cavity to core
oCavity pressure differences due to too much
pressure drop through the cavity
Mold Shrinkage Data
Mold Shrinkage Sample
Problem
The material that a part is made from
has a volumetric shrinkage of 0.1in
3
/in
3
.
What must the cavity dimensions be to
make a part
o3.02 inches wide
o5.67 inches long
o0.1 inches thick
Mold Shrinkage Sample
Problem
Flow Leader and Restrictors
Ideally the melt should flow from the
gate, reaching the extremities of the
cavity all at the same time
To achieve balanced fill, the filling
pressure drop associated with each and
every flow path must be equal
Pressure drops can be balanced by
making local adjustments in the part
wall thickness
Flow Leader and Restrictors
Flow Leader are local increases in wall
thickness to promote flow
Flow restrictors are local decreases in wall
thickness to reduce flow
If flow is not balanced
oOverpacking/underpacking
oVariable shrinkage
oResidual Stress
oTendency to warp
Flow Leaders and Restrictors
Weld and Meld Lines
Formed during filling
when melt flow front
separates and
recombines
Caused by
oMultiple gates
oCores/Holes
Looks like a crack
on the surface of the
part
Weld and Meld Lines
The strength of the weld line can be
significantly lower
Try to eliminate completely or locate in
non critical area in terms of load and
appearance
oVary part geometry, part wall thickness and
gating scheme
Weld and Meld Lines
Processing conditions affect the weld
strength
oMolecular diffusion and entanglement are
necessary to improve weld strength
Increase the temperature
Increase the pressure