Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Injection Molds
In order to settle for a low cost injection mold design that is highly reliable and efficient, it is imperative to state that the injection molding process begins and ends with knowledge of how all the processes and materials that are used in the molding process relate to the final product. In creating a good mold design the errors may include and not limited to: Not focusing on material properties, under-design of the cooling system, too tight or loose tolerances on the parts of the mold, not utilizing proper draft angles, incorrectly designed venting system etc. In this post, we will discuss 5 of the biggest errors commonly seen when creating injection molds, and suggest what can be done to prevent such mistakes.
Mistake 1: Failing to Consider Material Properties
Material selection is the most important step you have to make for a successful molding. Each mold-process process is a successful result only if the material employed in the molding process is good. It’s one recipe for molding mistakes to use the wrong material, or to use a material with incorrect properties. When using the wrong material, the problems are: deformation of the color of the moulds, deformation of the molds, and reduced strength of the end product. These flaws in turn cause performance issues for the final product component that makes it not economically viable and unsustainable. The better the material, the better the mold design and shape; The lower the material, the lower the mold design and shape.
Solution
To avoid this issue, injection molding manufacturers should pay maximum attention in choosing the material that will suit the product and the manufacturing environment. In that sense, the most effective way to ensure the best outcome when it comes to molding material selection and sourcing is through a deep research of the market available molding materials. This allows you to specify the material mechanical properties, which are all extremely useful in choosing the best possible candidate material to be moulded.
Mistake 2: Poor Cooling System Design
Second mistake in injection mold design is insufficient cooling system. As we all know injecting molten material at such extreme temperatures leads to post-molding crystallization that can produce minor or large deformation of the resulting molded product and even worse when there is a low temperature control which can in fact result in fire risk on the resulting product. A poorly designed cooling system is almost certain to warp the final products or increase the manufacturing cycles. So the effect ruins the final molding product and leads to a defect in the finished product that is not usable.
Solution
The solution for this problem is the use of good and well placed heat exchangers. That can be done with a design with good calibration of cooling channels which fit the temperature transfers across the different stages of the production platform. This kind of configuration ensures sufficient cooling at various stages of the molding process. This can be done through design parameters that permit providing enough cooling paths to allow the materials to flow and cool best throughout the production cycle. There must be proper placement of the cooling pipes so that they cool more uniformly and that it is advantageous for production efficiency as well as end product quality.
Mistake 3: Tight or Loose Tolerances on Mold Parts
Getting the features of the parts just right are not easy to get and the whole production process is not realistic due to mold part cost. That’s usually due to inflated expectations or obsession with the finished product. Casting features with high tolerances causes undesirable properties of the final product, which will be no longer able to perform the task that is being done. Also, note that inaccurate tolerances of the mold parts could skew the assembly properties and consistency of the product making it inappropriate to the intended use. This also means that major problems in terms of product compatibility and production cost can arise if checks and balances are not done well. That trade-off should be between what it costs to make the parts of the mold, and what the parts of the mold will do, once produced.
Solution
The tolerances should be defined that are reasonable and specific to the needs of each component so that the production cost of mold elements is balanced against the quality expected. In this scenario, defining and tinkering with the right tolerance bands to fit the needs of the machining and assembly should be important. Not to be ignored in defining and setting tolerance ranges in production methods, cost of production, assembly of the end products.
Mistake 4: Ignoring Draft Angles
During the production phase, molding properties like draft angles are very important because they help the part to release from the mold. Defective drafts not only result in expensive manufacturing and quality issues, parts can also remain inside the mold creating inefficient production or damaging mold parts. It will probably be difficult to remove a part from the cavity if its draft angle is too low. This could result in part destruction or a production cycle delay. An absence of draft angles leads to surface mold distortions that can lead to bending or warping of the piece from too much force being used in removal.
Solution
The way to handle this is to make sure that all the set draft angles are strictly followed and that sufficient draft angles are taken into account in the mold design for complex cross-sectional parts. Also, the draft angles required for ease of part ejection and low friction part fabrication are important to include in the mold design.
Mistake 5: Inadequate Venting Design
Incorrect venting design could lead to gas pockets collecting in the production cavity, causing damage to the product molds in the desired area of the process. Crash or the time required to make the product are the most telling signs of a bad venting system. This issue usually results in huge defects in the quality of the product.
Solution
The key to getting high product quality at lower production costs is to align the ventilation requirements of the whole molding cycle. Vent size and vent location is the primary consideration while designing a vent. This is a solution to one of the most annoying air trap issues of the manufacturing chain. Molding is a pressure process so the vent shape and size must depend on the pressure level in the production processing chamber.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the quality of the product is very much reliant on material used and so choosing the poor material makes the product bad, but choosing the good material makes the product best in quality. Routine installation and layout of cooling systems adds to convenience in the system functioning and quality of the end result. Cost control is advantageous for maintaining tolerance values in the production process but achieving assembly pieces which meet their specific requirements and don’t interfere with the assembly lines. Right designs of the molding chamber with the right draft angles and other geometry so that the melting and scraping process doesn’t negatively impact the mold quality. When you don’t get these errors right while making injection molds, it typically leads to a defective moulds manufacturing process.
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