Mold tooling split
..in SOLIDWORKS
Harsha Hegde, SW Tech Support
Positioning of core-cavity
You can understand how expensive
they can be…
..and how critical is any decision
during the tooling split
More images.
More images.
The Mold parting design is decided after considering many factors – hence it is best
done by the customer, not by us
How it works
Works as a Solid body operation – Similar to Boolean ‘Intersect’
What is needed:
A solid body component, free from geometry errors
A parting line
Shut off faces
Parting surface setup
Core surface bodies
Cavity surface bodies
Parting surface bodies
workflow
Plan the component orientation, based on the direction of pull – and
reposition the component if needed
Plan the parting line, and also decide if the component needs moving
core/cavity inserts (side cores)
Create the parting line
Create the shut off faces, if needed
Create the parting surface
Crate the tooling split
Optional for the process in SW, but
essentials in real world
Undercut analysis
Draft
Scale
Interlocking mold
Parting line
It should show this message – All well
This message – Parting line is OK, but you need to create shut off faces
Parting faces
If the system generated parting faces are not acceptable, create manual
faces
Parting surfaces must start from parting edges only
Make sure you move them to the ‘parting surface bodies’ folder
Shut off faces
All well
Problem!
Important note: If you wish to create shut off faces manually (due to the
complexity of the profile), you need to select that profile and mark it as ‘No fill’
in the shut off command
Conditions
All surface bodies should be in their respective folders. If you create parting or shut off faces manually,
make sure to move them to respective folders
The surface bodies setup should have a ‘watertight’ geometry
Surfaces should be knittable, without using ‘gap control’
Parting + Shut off + Core
Parting + Shut off + Cavity
If you cannot knit them without gap control – then you need to knit them manually. And finally there will
be these bodies
Single surface body, comprising of all parting surfaces
Single surface body, comprising of ‘Shut off + Core’ surfaces
Single surface body, comprising of ‘Shut off + Cavity’ surfaces
*Not necessarily ‘single’. There may be multiple bodies also – but they should be able to knit without gap control
In reality, there can be only two (or two sets of) surface bodies for a tooling split
Parting + Shut off + Core
Parting + Shut off + Cavity