MOLDABLE
PART
DESIGN
GUIDE
Prepared by Plastic Mold
TOPICS
Part wall thickness
Rib design
Boss design
Draft
Undercuts
Fillets
Weld line
Warpage/Deflection
Special requirement
Case Study
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PART WALL THICKNESS
Excessively thin walls may
develop
• high molding stresses,
• cosmetic problems and
• filling problems. Incorrect
Conversely, overly thick walls
can extend cycle times and
create packing problems. correct
Avoid designs with thin areas
surrounded by thick perimeter
sections as they are prone to gas
entrapment problems.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PART WALL THICKNESS
Incorrect correct
Redesign thick areas
to create
UNIFORM WALL
THICKNESS.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PART WALL THICKNESS
Maintain uniform nominal wall thickness;
Avoid wall thickness variations that result in filling from thin to thick sections.
Worst: thin to thick Very bad: thick to thin bad: thick to thin
Standard: Uniform thickness Best: thin with ribs
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PART WALL THICKNESS
Make the outside
radius larger than Corner Design Thickness transition
the inside radius to
maintain constant wall Too thin Incorrect
thickness.
Round or taper correct
Too
thickness thick
transitions to
minimize read- correct
through and
possible blush or
gloss differences. correct
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PART WALL THICKNESS
Flow leaders help mold
filling or packing in areas far
from the gate. For best results,
the flow-leader thickness
should extend from the gate
without restrictions.
To avoid possible warpage
and shrinkage problems, limit
the added thickness to no
more than 25% of the
nominal wall for low-
shrinkage, amorphous or
filled materials and to 15%
for unfilled crystalline resins.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PART WALL THICKNESS
It is always best to design a plastic part as THIN as possible, but as THICK as
necessary.
Be optimistic about thickness to reduce cost.
Resin Base thickness range (mm)
ABS 1.8 ~ 2.5
HIPS 1.8 ~ 2.5
PP 1.5 ~ 2.1
GPPS 3 ~ 4.5
PC 1.5 ~ 3
Others Maintain sample thickness and
previous in-house product
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Door handle)
Short shot:
A
3.4 mm
A
2.2 mm 2.2 mm 1 mm
Section A-A
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Door handle)
Short shot:
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Wet jar lid)
Thickness variation
1.55mm
A
1.35mm
1.7mm
A Section A-A
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Wet jar lid)
Injection pressure requires 153.6 Mpa (non-uniform wall
thickness).
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Wet jar lid)
Injection pressure reduces to 139.7 Mpa after making wall
thickness uniform.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Bottle pocket)
Thickness variation
5.5mm
A
3mm
3.6mm
Section A-A
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Bottle pocket)
Flow simulation
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Lower back)
Thickness variation Mess thickness
Opposite side
of that area
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Lower back)
Sink mark
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (2.2L Digital control
panel)
Sink mark
Non uniform thickness uniform thickness
Sink mark occurs No sink mark occurs
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (2.2L Digital control panel)
Sink mark
A A
Simple change has been made to make this A wall uniform and sink mark
issue solved.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
RIB DESIGN
Rib Thickness as a
Percentage of Wall
Thickness (T) Slight
Resin Minimal sink
Sink
PC 50% (40% if high gloss) 66%
Radius=0.125T
ABS 40% 60%
T HIPS 40% 60%
PP 40% 50%
*Minimum Draft angle
GPPS 50% 60%
0.5° Per Side
Others 50% 60%
Prepared by Plastic Mold
RIB DESIGN
Replace very high rib with MULTIPLE SHORTER
RIBS.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
BOSS DESIGN
A RECESS around the base of a Typical boss design
thick boss reduces the sink.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
BOSS DESIGN
Try to maintain these two dimensions within these FOUR
types. So that we can use STANDARD molding equipment.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
BOSS DESIGN
Squared gussets can trap air in the corners. Try to avoid
the sharp corner.
INCORRECT CORRECT
CORRECT
AIR TRAP
Prepared by Plastic Mold
DRAFT
INCORRECT CORRECT
Draft all surfaces
parallel to the direction
of steel part separation.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
DRAFT
Less draft increases the chance of damaging the part during
ejection.
Molded product
being ejected
Mold Mol
parting d
line core
plate
A Vacuum Is
Created In This Area
Prepared by Plastic Mold
DRAFT
If there is cutting like this on
parting line, then use at 2 degree
draft on the side walls (i.e. A
walls).
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (BLDC ceiling fan insulation plastic)
Cavity stuck problem solved after increasing draft from 0.5° to
3° on A walls.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Exhuast fan front net)
Cavity stuck problem solved after increasing draft from 1° to 3°
on A walls.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
CASE STUDY (Vegetable box cover)
Crack issue solved on this GPPS part after increasing the
draft to 15 degree on A walls.
A
Prepared by Plastic Mold
UNDERCUTS
Clever part design or minor design concessions often can
eliminate complex mechanisms for undercuts.
Simple wire guides can be
molded with bypass steel in the
mold.
Extending vent slots over the corner
edge eliminates the need for a side
action in the mold.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
UNDERCUTS
Snap-fit hook molded through hole
to form undercut.
A
B
Use at least 2 degree draft
on A walls.
Keep the width of the cut at
least 5mm. Prepared by Plastic Mold
FILLETS
Avoid radius on parting needlessly which increases mold
manufacturing time and cost.
Eas Difficult
y
Eas Difficult
y
Prepared by Plastic Mold
FILLETS
Example: This “A” radius
increases machining time
and cost.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
WELD LINE
Cavity
Knit line
Knit lines or weld Core forms
pin here
Flow
lines are the result of a front
flow front of molten
plastic coming in
contact.
Design features like
holes and cuts may Flow
front
cause visible weld line.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
WARPAGE
Plastic part will warp. How much we can control is the key
which should start from product design-tool design-
production.
Cause Of Product Warpage: a
Variation in shrinkage from region
to region (Differential shrinkage).
a> b
b
High
Temperature differences from one temp
side of mold to the other (Differential
cooling). Low temp
Prepared by Plastic Mold
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
MOLDABLE DESIGN
Stress-strain analysis: Use optimum amount of ribs
and gussets, cause more ribs increases machining
time.
Preliminary Moldflow analysis: Product designer
can observe sink mark, weld line, short shot and
other issues by preliminary analysis.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
PHOTOETCHING
We have different type of etching patterns. You can follow our
etching book to choose your desired ones.
Prepared by Plastic Mold
THANK
YOU
Prepared by Plastic Mold
