DEVELOPMENT OF BOTTOM CAVITY OF 4 LITER BOTTLE

WAN AHMAD SMFUL BIN WAN MUHAMAD SUKERI

A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Universiti Malaysia Pahang

NOVEMBER 2007

PERPUSTJ4KAAN
UVERSm MALAYSIA FHAWG
No. Peroehan:

037939

Pang
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Tarikh

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I'4

ABSTRACT

Four liter plastic bottle always use in chemical industry. A good of mold will
need to produce a high quality of four liter plastic bottle. Actually the mold for this
bottle is dividing into three parts. They are top cavity of bottle, main cavity of bottle
and bottom cavity of bottle. This project will show how and what are the processes
that involve developing the bottom cavity of four liter bottle. These projects start
with initially in design stages, material selection for bottom cavity mold and fabricate
the mold. The latest technologies that use to fabricate the mold are Master Cam
software and CNC milling machine. Another processes are use to ensure no defect
and follow the characteristics from actual specification.

VI

ABSTRAK

Botol plastic 4 liter sememangnya banyak digunakan dalam indusfri kimia.

Acuan yang baik diperlukan dalam menghasilkan botol plastic 4 liter yang bermutu.
Pada dasarnya acuan mi terbahagi kepada tiga iaitu acuan pada bahagian atas botol,
bahagian tengah botol dan juga pada bahagian bawah botol. Di dalam projek mi akan
ditunjukkan bagaimana dan apa proses yang terlibat dalam menghasilkan acuan
bawah botol.Projek mi melibatkan proses reka bentuk, pemilihan bahan yang sesuai
sehingga kepada pembentukan acuan menggunakan technology terkini iaitu perisian
Master Cam dan CNC milling machine.Untuk menghasilkan produk yang bermutu,
acuan tadi perlu melalui beberapa proses lain supaya produk yang dihasilkan tidak
mengalami kecacatan dan menepati spesifikasi sebenar.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE

CHAPTER

PAGE

DECLARATION OF THESIS
DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

iv

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

vi

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

xii

LIST OF APPENDICES

xiii

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Project background

1.2

Problem Statement

1.3

Objectives

1.4

Scopes of Project

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Intoduction

2.2

The principle of blow molding

2.2.1 Parison formation

2.2.2 Parison dimension

2.2.3 Extrusion blow molding

2.2.3.1

Wall thickness

2.2.3.2

Blow up ratio

10

viii
2.2.3.3

Wall thickness and melt

10

Temperature
2.3

Main characteristic of the bottom bottle design

10

2.3.1

11

Main characteristic of bottom mold

2.3.2. Mold materials

12

2.3.3. Important of fast mold cooling

13

2.3.4. The pinch off

14

2.3.5

14

High quality undamaged mold cavity

Finish

2.4

2.5

CNC milling

14

2.4.1

Cutting speed

18

2.4.2

Spindle speed

20

2.4.3

Feed rate

21

Overview of polymer material

22

2.5.1 Types of polymers

23

2.5.2 Chemical end use requirement

23

2.5.3

24

Shrinkage

METHODOLOGY

26

3.1

Introduction

26

3.2

Project methodology

27

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.2.1 Literature review

28

3.2.2 Bottle design

28

3.2.3 Survey

28

Design concept

29

3.3.1 Material selection

29

Flow of fabrication process

30

3.4.1 Square part

31

3.4.2 Surface grinding

31

3.4.3 Simulation by Master Cam

32

Machining by CNC milling

34

3.5.1 Set the tooling height

34

ix

3.6

3.7

3.5.2 Spindle speed and feed rate calculation

35

Surface finish

36

3.6.1 Air grinding

36

3.6.2 Polishing

37

3.6.3 Sand blasting

37

Summary

38

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

39

4.1

Introduction

39

4.2

Statistic from survey

39

4.3

Final design of bottle

41

4.3.1

Final design of bottom cavity

42

4.4

Data from machining

42

4.5

Discussion

43

4.5.1

Cutting tool fracture

44

4.5.2

Programming

45

4.5.3

Unsmooth surface

46

4.6

Cost analysis

47

4.7

Bottom cavity of 4 liter bottle

48

4.8

Summary

49

CONCLUSION

50

5.1

Conclusion

50

5.2

Recommendation

51

REFERENCES

52

APPENDIX A

53

APPENDIX B

56

APPENDIX C

57

APPENDIX D

58

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO.

TITLE

PAGE

2.1

Injection of air in blow mold

2.2

Parison programming with die orifice

2.3

Die with variable orifice

2.4

Various blow molding process

2.5

Bottom cavity mold

11

2.6

Three axis milling machine

15

2.7

Feed drive for work table

16

2.8

Work piece clamping for milling

16

2.9

Tooling system milling

17

2.10

Tool dimension milling.

18

3.1

Design methodology flow chart

27

3.2

Flow of fabrication

30

3.3

Conventional milling machine

31

3.4

Grinding machine

32

3.5

Simulation process

33

3.6

CNC milling

34

3.7

Air grinding

36

3.8

Polishing by sand paper

37

Sand blasting machine

38

xi
4.1

Survey analysis

40

4.2

Finalize design of bottle

41

4.3

Finalize design of bottom cavity

42

4.4

Tool fracture

45

4.5

Unsmooth area before surface finish

46

4.6

After surface finish

47

4.7

Bottom cavity

48

4.8

Assembly with main cavity

48

xli

LIST OF TABLES

TITLE

TABLE NO.

PAGE

2.1

Cutting speed for varians material

19

2.2

Recommended feed per tooth

22

2.3

Shrinkage various material

25

3.1

Process in simulation

33

3.2

Tool height

35

3.3

Spindle speed and feed rate

35

4.1

Data collection from student

39

4.2

Data collection from staff

40

4.3

List of machining time

43

4.4

Machining time after tool fracture

44

4.5

Cost

47

xli'

LIST OF APPENDICES

TITLE

APPENDIX NO

PAGE

Al

Full geometry of bottom cavity

53

A2

Full geometry of half bottom cavity

54

A3

Location of cooling channel and guide screw

55

Tool list of machining

56

Cl

Sample of survey

57

Dl

G codes for CNC programs

58

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project Background

A bottle is a small container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a
"mouth." Bottles are often made of glass, plastic or aluminum, and typically used to
store liquids. Plastic bottle is commonly use in our life. There have one liter, two
liter, fourth liter of plastic bottle. Four liter bottle typically used to store liquid like
cooking oil (for both cooking and as fuel), water and other chemical substances.
These bottles are produced from polyethylene using the blow molding process.
Bottle labels consist of a printed, tight-fitted plastic sleeve. The color available for
four liter bottle is white, natural, black, and custom colors available.
Every day the demands for this type of bottle from industry are increase.
However the quantities of the product still not enough Therefore in this project, I
will develop bottle four liter which easy to handle and suitable to all liquid
especially for chemical substances. The process that uses to make bottle is blow
molding process.
In Malaysia, the number of individual that can develop mold for bottle is very
small. The mold determines the shape of the end product with all its details. It helps
Provide the end product with essential physical properties and the desired
appearance. Usually the mold maker builds the blow mold according to the molders
or the customer's specifications.

1.2 Problem Statement

In this project, a 4 liter bottle based on bottom cavity is developed to

overcome a few problems. The first problem is the design of the bottle now not
suitable for the certain purpose. Some of the bottle is easy to pour but very difficult
when to hold or carry it. In another word, it not agronomics to us. For the bottom
part, the design must give high stability to the bottle.
The second problem is in our country, there only a little mold maker. Usually
the mold of bottle will import from China. The price for each mold is very expensive
and high cost invests if to buy a mold from the manufacture. Beside that it can
localize the mold design in Malaysia for multi usage.

1.3

Objective

Project Objective
1). To design mold of bottom part for 4 liter bottle.
2) To assembly with a main cavity of 4 liter bottle.

1.4

Scope of Project

Project Scopes
Design the concept of bottle.
. Identify the suitable material properties according to the molds
. Simulate the fabrication of the mold.

Fabricate blow mold (Bottom cavity).

Apply in to product fabrication and get the final product.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Introduction
This chapter is discussing about the blow molding technique and extrusion

blow mold. This to element is very important to know before the mold of the bottle
can be produce. The other element that will include in this chapter is about the
polymer material consideration. The main process to develop the mold also discuss
in this chapter.

2.2 The principal of Blow Molding

A simple explanation of the principle of blow molding is a balloon. If we

blow air into a plastic tube that is closed on all side except the point which the air
enters, the tube will expand and take the shape of the mold that is around the tube.
The process begin with a plastic resin hot tube called a parison or pre-form. The
parison is placed within a split mold with a hollow cavity. The mold sides are then
clamped together, pinching and sealing the parison tube. Air is blown into the tube,
which expands the hot resin wall into the shape of the part. Once cooled the part is
ejected from the mold and trimmed. There are several methods of blow molding
plastic parts. However they all have 5 stages in common. They are plasticizing or

melting the resin, parison or pre-form production, inflation of the parison or preform in a mold to produce the end part, injection of the part and finishing of the
part.
The first four steps take place in sequence and the five step is performed
while the other four steps are cycling. Exceptions occur when a number of pieces
are produced on the same machine, simultaneously, then the four steps may overlap.
Most of the cycle time is taken up by the blowing and cooling step. The speed of the
machine that melts the resin and makes the parison must be configured to conform
to the blowing/cooling time [1].

2.2.1 Parison Formation

The parison or pre-form is formed by either of two techniques for melting the
resin, extrusion or injection molding. For small, high production clear parts,
injection blow molding would be the process of choice. For larger industrial parts
the accumulator method is the process of choice and higher volume detergent or oil
bottles would most likely be produced on a wheel machine.

2.2.2 Parison Dimension

Usually the diameter of the parison is nearly the same as the diameter of the
container finish, although this depends strongly on bottle design Containers with an
Offset neck or a handle require a wider parison. It is generally recommended that the
ratio of the container diameter to the parison diameter not exceed four to one. The
parison dimensions are not identical to the die dimensions, since the stress
relaxation and elastic memory characteristics of plastics cause the parison to shrink
in length and swell in diameter and wall thickness as it is being produced.

2.2.3 Extrusion Blow Molding

In extrusion blowing, a hot tubular is extruded continuously. The mold

halves close which seals off the open end of the parison .See in the Figure 2.1. Air is
then injected and the hot parison expands against the mold walls. After cooling, the
product is ejected. Extrusion blow molding can produce article large enough to hold
100001, of water. Blow extrusion offers strain free articles at high production rate
but scrap reprocessing is required. Controlling wall thickness is the largest
disadvantage of extrusion blow molding. By controlling (sometime called
programming) the wall thickness of the extrude parison, thinning is reduced. For a
part requiring an extremely large body yet needing strength at the corner, a parison
could be produced with the corner area much thicker than the wall [8].

Air

cooled
cores

Iosing of mold halves.

B) Thjcciion of air

Figure 2.1 : Injection of air in blow mold

0.50 nro
0.53 roct
0.58 toot
0.65-0.75-0.78 toot
0.80 torn
(A) Picrd orficc product

0.80 torn
0.80-0.65 tot,,
0.58 root
0.65 root
0.80 ttwtt
0.80-(B) Programmed orifice product

Figure 2.2 Parison programming with die orifice

Hot plastic is fed into an accumulator and then forced through the die. A
controlled length of parison is produced when the ram or plunger operates. The
extruder fill the accumulator and the cycle begins again. The wall thickness of tube
or parison will be controlled to suit the bottle configuration. This is done by using a
die with a variable orifice as show in Figure 2.3. The advantage of extrusion blow
molding are:
Most thermoplastics and many termosets may be used.
Die cost are lower than those of injection molding.
Extruder compounds and blends materials well.
Extruder plasticates material efficiently.
Extruder is basic to many molding processes

Rm

To the
head

Screw
Breaker plate
Screen pack
block

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Extruder
Air

imill

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170
00-^7 101 1 WN-4 O
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Retainer rung --mu

Bushing

Mandrel
(movable)
Variable orifice

Figure 2.3: Die with variable orifice

Many different way of forming blow molded product have been developed
.Each product may have an advantage in molding a given product. On manufacture
both forms and fills the container in a single operation. Rather than compressed air,
the product is forced into the parison.

Air

^6J
r
Plasticate^

Form
parison
!Pinch

<'-

Bl ow

:1

Eject

Figure 2.4: Various blow molding proses

The flash (Excess material) is trimmed from the bottle neck and bottom, as
well as from other areas that are pinched off, for instances to form handles or offsett
necks the marks left from the removal of the flash serve as an easy means for
identification of extrusion blow molded bottle. It typically appears as;a rough area
along the mold parting line, centered in the middle of the bottom and running half or
so of the distances to the heel of the bottle.It is also possible on careful examination,
to identify the roughness at the top of the finish, or on other areas where flash was
trimmed. The flash, after being trimmed, usually is immediately ground up and feed
back into the extruder at the controlled rate, mixed with the virgin resin [1].

2.2.3.1 Wall Thickness

The pin in the die may be activated by a timing mechanism called an

automatic timing device, which raises or lowers the pin while the parison is being
formed. This allow the resin to be extruded to form a parison that will have a more
uniform wall thickness, matching the sagging which would otherwise be thin in the
top area of the tube. When the mold closes the pin returns to its original position. It
can be seen by moving the mandrel up and down during the extrusion of the parison.
Additional resin (and increase of wall thickness) can compensate for irregular part
configurations. A further method of controlling wall thickness of the parison is

10

varying the extrusion pressure through a fixed die opening. Higher pressure causes
an increase in output while lower pressure will causes less resin to be extruded [7].

2.2.3.2 Blow Up Ratio

Blow-up ratio is defined as the ratio of the average diameter of the parison.
The maximum recommended blow-up ratio for the most application is 5:1 but 3:1 is
preferable and the optimum result also depends on wall thickness. With
conventional tooling the mold closing around the parison at the pinch off causes the
parison to changes in cross sectional shape [3].

2.2.3.3 Wall Thickness and Melt Temperature

The melt temperature becomes critical when extruding a parison with

varying wall thickness. Should the melt temperature be too low, the thick areas may
end up as thin areas? This can occur because of the differences in stretch ability and
heat retention in the thicker area [8].

2.3 Main Characteristic of Bottom Bottle Design

The bottom of a bottle typically only has one primary function (besides
helping hold the bottle together) and that is to provide a flat surface for the bottle to
stand upright.Boule bottoms aren't flat because they need an arched structure to
allow them to be stable on a flat surface. The bottom of a bottle is usually the
thickest part, retaining more temperature throughout the production line. Because

11

the bottom is hotter, it is also more fluid and has a tendency to sag, forming a shape
like a spinning top which makes it unstable on flat surfaces. Giving a bottle an
arched shape at the bottom means that if it does sag, it can do so without touching
the bottom.

2.3.1 Main Characteristic of The Bottom Cavity (mold)

The blow mold may have a number of parts, counting its various insert, but
it usually consists of two halves. When closed, these halves will form one or more
cavities which will enclose one or more parisons for blowing. The two mold halves
are usually alike. There are usually no male and female sections. Pinch off edges are
generally provided at both ends of the mold halves. A blowing pin may have the
additional function of shaping and finishing the neck inside.Both mold halves must
have built in channel for the cooling water. Set of guide pins and bushings or side
plates in both mold halves ensure perfect cavity alignment and mold closing.
Accurate guiding devices in both mold halve reduce setup

Figure 2.5 : Bottom cavity mold

12

2.3.2 Mold Materials

Because of the comparatively low clamping and blow pressures, the blowing
mold need not be made of a high tensile strength material, with a possible exception
of molds for very long production runs, say, hundreds of thousands or millions,
which are sometimes made of steel. The predominant raw materials for blow molds
are machined from aluminum billet, cast aluminum alloys, zinc alloys such as Kirk
site, and occasionally, bronze. Beryllium copper because of its expense and
difficulty in machining, is usually reserved for pinch inserts or cores where rapid
heat transfer is needed. All these alloys are excellent material for blow molds.
Aluminum is the softest of the mold material in use and is most easily
damaged in the shop. Furthermore, aluminum molds wear easily. On the other hand,
they are easiest to machine. Aluminum and beryllium copper cast molds may be
slightly porous, and occasionally, blow molders have experienced some
permeability of such molds to the viscous resin. This may affect the appearance of
the blow part. The remedy for this problem is coating the inside of the mold halves
with a sealer This will not affect the heat transfer between the resin blown against
the mold and the mold walls.
Steel molds are heavier, more expensive, and more difficult to machine than
those made of nonferrous alloys. Higher weight will mean more setup time in the
molding shop. Moreover, the heat conductivity of steel is inferior to that of the three
nonferrous mold materials. This results in a slower cooling rate and a
correspondingly longer cooling cycle and consequently, a lower production rate for
steel molds [6].

13

2.3.3 Important of Fast Mold Cooling

Different materials with consequently different heat conductivity at various

point of the mold will result in no uniform cooling. This in turn might set up areas
of stress in the finished piece, which would be susceptible to splitting in use. The
blow mold halves must always be adequately cooled to solidify the part quickly,
immediately after the parison has been blown out against the mold walls.
The cooling water may be tap water. If it has a high content of minerals
which may settle in the narrow cooling channels, a closed system for circulating
purified water should be used. Usually, the cooling water is recirculated, that is,
reused time and again for along period. Sometimes it is partly recirculated and
mixed with fresh tap water to maintain the desired temperature and to economize.
Cooling channel should also be as close to the (lengthwise or other) parting
lines caused by the separation line of the two halves or by inserts. Parting lines will
practically always show along mold separation lines. Cooling these areas will result
in better finish of the piece along the parting line.
Larger molds may be equipped with several- up to three or more Independent cooling zones. Generally, in the top or bottom areas, that is, around a
bottleneck or the bottom pinch-off, or both, greater masses of resin are required than
along the other areas. Such areas as well as thicker wall sections, therefore, often
required additional cooling. Otherwise this section would still be viscous while the
thinner wall sections have solidified when the piece is ejected. Cooling time is
strongly affected by the extrusion melt temperature of the blow molding cycle. It
has been experienced that an increase, or decrease, of 5C in melt temperature can
extend, or shorten, the cooling cycle by as much as one second [7].

14

2.3.4 The Pinch Off

Because of the comparatively high pressure and mechanical stress exerted

on the mold bottom when (in the closing step) it pinches one end off the parison
together, the pinch off in a nonferrous metal mold is frequently an insert made of
hard, tough steel. The effect on the blown part always shows in the so-called weld
line. The pinch off section does not cut off the excess parison tail.Its protruding
edges cut nearly through, creating an airtight closure by pinching the parison along
a straight line which make it easy later to break off or otherwise remove the excess
, of a thick walled parison is more difficult to
tail piece. A high quality pinch-off
obtain than that of a thin- walled parison .However much depends on the
construction of the pinch off insert. The pinch off should not be knife edge, but
according to some molders, should be formed by lands about 0.1 to 0.5mm. The
total angle outward from the pinch off should be acute, up to 15 [6].

2.3.5 High Quality Undamaged Mold Cavity Finish

A high quality mold cavity finish and undamaged inside surface are essential
in polyethylene blow molding to avoid surface imperfections in the end product. If
the highest possible gloss of the end product is desired, the mold cavity should be
vacuum assists for the removal of entrapped air. If other end product finishes are
desired, the mold cavity should be finished accordingly [4].

2.4

CNC Milling machine

Milling machines have three feed axes: X, Y and Z. Two of these are
generally activated by traversing the work table while the third axis is represented