INJECTION MOLD DESIGN

JUNAID PARKAR
16POL 204
POLYMER PROCESSING II

TOC

CONTENTS
Introduction
Selection of Machines
Mold Venting

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
Buying a PIMM is not a small investment.
Too much machine for the job at hand is wasteful.
Too little machine does not get job done.
Careful matching of the jobs needs and the attributes

MACHINE SELECTION

SELECTION OF INJECTION MOLDING MACHINE

Shot Weight
Clamping force
Screw diameter
Injection pressure
Injection Speed
Injection rate
Plasticizing capacity

Mold opening Stroke

Maximum Daylight
Platen Thickness
Dry Cycle Time
Electric Motor Rating
Electric Heater Rating

MACHINE SELECTION

SHOT WEIGHT
Weight of the plastic injected when the nozzle is free
standing
The plastic used is PS with a SG =1.05
Higher than the shot weight of the mold

MACHINE SELECTION

CLAMPING FORCE
Maximum force the machine is capable of, to keep the
mold close against cavity pressure during injection
Insufficient clamping force gives rise to flash at the mold
joint.

MACHINE SELECTION

CALCULATING CLAMING FORCE

E.g. PS
Flow Path Length (FPL) =
104 mm
Wall Thickness (WT) =0.6
mm
FPL:WT = 173:1
2
P=550
bar=561kg/cm

Clamping Force =
Pressure x Projected Area

MACHINE SELECTION

L/D RATIOS
High L/D ratio of 22:1
Compression in transition section
Better mixing
Uniform heating
Medium L/D ratio of 20:1
For general application
Low L/D ratio of 18:1
Shot weight is more dominant
selection criterion
Injection pressure is low

MACHINE SELECTION

INJECTION PRESSURE
Maximum pressure in the barrel during injection
Not the max hydraulic pressure
Injection pr. 10 x Max. hydraulic pr.

MACHINE SELECTION

INJECTION SPEED
Max speed of the screw that can be attained during injection
Injection speed affects injection time.
E.g. Thin walled articles require higher injection speed so that melt does not
solidify before the cavity is filled
Its better to have a machine than can deliver multiple injection speeds
Accumulators can be used to increase injection speed
Increasing motor and hydraulic pump size - 25% increase in injection
speed
Using an accumulator - 3 times increase in injection speed

MACHINE SELECTION

INJECTION RATE
It is the max volume swept out by the screw per sec during injection
It is expressed in cm3 /s
Injection rate =Injection speed x 3.14 x (d/2)2
where, d = screw diameter in cm.

MACHINE SELECTION

SCREW SURFACE SPEED (SSS)

Screw rotary speed by itself is not critical as screw surface speed. The
two are related by screw diameter
SSS = 0.052 x screw diameter x rpm.
Each plastic material has a recommended maximum SSS which must
not be exceeded
For example PP and HDPE should not experience a SSS of higher than
800 mm/s.

MACHINE SELECTION

PLASTICIZING CAPACITY
It is the amount of PS that a PIMM can uniformly plasticize in one hour
at max screw rotary speed with 0 back pr.
Since cycle time is longer than screw rotation time
The shot wt. S (g) of a machine and its plasticizing capacity G (kg/hr)
set a lower limit on cycle time tmin (s) as follows -

t min=S x 3600 (G x 1000)

It is important to match shot wt and plasticizing capacity in the case of fast cycling machines producing thin walled or close tolerance
components.

MACHINE SELECTION

MOLD OPENING STROKE

It is the displacement of the moving
platen from mold close to mold open.
Mold opening stroke determines the
max height (H) of the mold part, the
machine is capable of.
The relationship is
Mold opening stroke 2H + L
Where, sprue length = L
In hot runner system L = 0

MACHINE SELECTION

MAXIMUM DAYLIGHT
The maximum opening between the fixed and moving platens when
the clamp is wide open
It is related to mold opening stroke and minimum/maximum mold
height as follows.
For a toggle clamp machines
Max daylight = mold opening stroke + max mold ht.
For direct hydraulic clamp machine
Max daylight = mold opening stroke + min mold ht.

MACHINE SELECTION

SPACE BETWEEN TIE BAR

Mold width must fit within the horizontal space between tie bars if the
mold is lowered from above.
The mold length must fit within the vertical space between tie bars if
the mold is slit in from the side.
Usually there is a clearance of
25mm on each side for smaller molds
50 mm on each side for bigger molds

MACHINE SELECTION

PLATEN THICKNESS
The moving platen and fixed platen must have sufficient stiffness
to transmit the force of tie bar to the mold with minimum deflection
For a given geometry
a flat platens deflection is proportional to the cube of its thickness
Especially for the moving platen, a compromise has to be struck
between weight and thickness.

MACHINE SELECTION

DRY CYCLE TIME

Dry cycle time = mold closing time + mold opening time
Dry cycle time is the ultimate cycle time as there is no cooling period.

MACHINE SELECTION

ELECTRIC MOTOR RATING

The current per phase drawn by a three phase motor at its rated power
is
im (A)=motor power rating (kw) x 1000/ (3 x single phase power
voltage (V) x efficiency x power factor)
For most three phase motors
Efficiency=0.88to 0.91
Power factor=0.84 to 0.88

MACHINE SELECTION

POWER DEMAND DURING THE MOLDING CYCLE

MACHINE SELECTION

ELECTRIC HEATER RATING

Electric band heater along the barrel provides heat at start up
It also supplements the heating by plasticizing (when screw rotates)
during the molding cycle
A higher rating per heater has the advantage of shorting the initial heat
up time.
ih (A)=[electric heater rating (kw) x 1000]/ [3 x single phase voltage (v)]

MACHINE SELECTION

SYSTEM PRESSURE
The most common hydraulic system pressure used in injection molding
machine is 140 bars 140 kg/cm2
This is limited by vane pump
Higher system pressure
170 bar to 240 bar
piston pump
cleaner oil is required

MOLD VENTING

MOLD VENTING
Why is it required
Removal of air that is displaced by plastic material
If not provided/insufficient molding venting
Considerable compression of air
Slow mold filling
Premature plastic pressure buildup
The locations that are difficult to vent effectively Vacuum is used with a solenoid operating valve

MOLD VENTING

ADVANTAGE OF USING VACUUM

Material enters with a minimum back pressure
Fills the cavity more rapidly
Essentially no trapped air
No voids in the part

MOLD VENTING

DIMENSIONS FOR DIFFERENT PLASTICS

For thermoplastics

MOLD VENTING

DIMENSIONS FOR DIFFERENT PLASTICS

For thermosets