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DEFECTS
Knit/Weld Lines
Splay
Short Shot
Sink marks
Jetting
Burn Marks
Shrinkage
Warpage
Cracks
Bubbles

DEFECTS OF PLASTICS MOULDING

PROCESS
Knit/Weld Lines:
Knit lines is the line where twoflowfronts meet when
there is the inability of two or more flow fronts to "knit"
together, or "weld", during themoldingprocess. These
lines usually occur around holes or obstructions and
cause locally weak areas in the molded part. Knit lines are
consideredmolding defects, and occur when the mold
or/and materialtemperaturesare set too low: thus the
materials will be cold when they meet, so that they do
not bond perfectly. This can cause a weak area in the part
which can cause breakage when the part is under stress

SPLAY
Splay: Moisture is the primary causes of splay on an
injection molded part.Lets discuss moisture, as most
of the time splay occurs because the resin has not
been properly dried. Proper resin is a function of
time/temperature.Most drying specifications for
various resins are at temperatures where the resin will
not agglomerate,

SHORT SHOT
Short Shot: is the incomplete filling of amoldcavity
which results in the production of an incomplete part.
If a partshort shots, the plastic does not fill the
cavity. The flow freezes off before all of the flow paths
have filled.

SINK MARKS
Sink: marks and voids are caused by localized shrinkage of

the material at thick sections without sufficient

compensation when the part is cooling. A sink mark almost
always occurs in extrusion on a surface that is opposite to
and adjoining a leg or rib.
Factors that lead to sink marks and voids are:
Low injection and packing pressure
Short hold time or cooling time
High melt temperature or mold temperature
Localized geometric features

JETTING
Jetting: is an external view defect in which a wavy pattern
appears on the surface of the molded product. Jetting
occurs because the plastic injected into the cavity from
the gate suddenly flows into the cavity at a very high
speed, and after colliding with the wall on the side
opposite to the gate, proceeds to fill the cavity from the
area surrounding the gate. Although the physical
phenomenon is different from the injection molding
formation of thermoplastic material, it is similar to the
unstable and wavy ejection of toothpaste into the air
when a tube of toothpaste is suddenly squeezed strongly.
This can be thought of as the behavior of a viscous fluid.

BURN MARKS
Burn Marks: burn marks can occur when the design of
a plastic part, and the subsequent injection mold
design, causes air to be trapped during the injection
(or filling stage) of the molding cycle. The air
compresses and is heated as a result. Once it reaches
combustion temperature, it burns and the part is left
with carbon residue. Those black marks are called
burn marks.

SHRINKAGE
Shrinkage: molding shrinkage is the contraction of a
plastic molded part as it cools after injection. Most of
the part shrinkage occurs in the mold while cooling,
but a small amount of shrinkage occurs after ejection,
as the part continues to. After that, the part may
continue to shrink very slightly for several hours or
even days until the temperature and moisture content
stabilize. Thus dimensional inspection should wait at
least a day.

WARPAGE
Warpage: is excessive change of shape of the part
after it has been ejected from the injection mould.
Also known as deformation, a warped part will twist or
bend due to internal stresses in the part caused by
uneven shrinkage rates or by some mechanically
applied forced such as during the ejection phase.

CRACKS
Cracks: If the crack develops in the direction of the
plastics flow into the mold cavity, the cause is
molecular orientation.
Molecular Orientation is High
Molecular Orientation is caused by Plastic Flow

BUBBLES
Bubbles: Bubbles have two primary causes: gas pockets
or vacuum voids. Both of these are essentially air-flow
related issues.
Trapped gas, which includes air, moisture vapor, volatiles
from the resin.