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Design Tips
for Rapid Injection Molding
Volume 1

NOBODY’S FASTER IN THE SHORT RUN.®

Protomold 5540 Pioneer Creek Drive, Maple Plain, MN 55359 (763) 479-3680
Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Design Tips categorized by topic External link to more information

Material Design Quality Understand

Page Table of contents selection guidelines assurance the process

3 Draft your way to a better part ñ ñ

4 Don’t cut corners! Foci on your radii. ñ ñ
5 Start with the right finish! ñ ñ
6 Thick section shrinking causes warping and sinking ñ ñ ñ
7 The right resin is a material choice ñ ñ
8 Expect to eject ñ ñ
9 Be open to shut-offs ñ ñ
10 Get a feel for texture ñ ñ
11 Living with hinges ñ ñ
12 The hole picture ñ ñ
13 Consider warp factors ñ ñ ñ ñ
14 Know more knit lines ñ ñ ñ ñ
Volume 1 n design matrix n 2
 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Draft your way to a better part

As illustrated in figure 1, draft is the angle cost and insuring trouble free molding. Drafts of Top view Top view
between the direction of ejection of a part 1.0 degree and larger may result in lower costs
from the mold and the surface of the part. Its with the Rapid Injection Molding process.
traditional function is to facilitate the removal
It is important that textured surfaces have
of the part from the mold, but in Protomold’s
adequate draft to prevent the part from
Rapid Injection Molding process, it also permits
sticking in the mold and to prevent “drag”
deeper geometries to be milled while reducing No draft results in sliding Draft results in improved
marks. Protomold requires that lightly textured parallel mold surfaces mold shutoff surfaces

It is important that textured surfaces have Figure 2: Draft can also improve mold life.

adequate draft to prevent the part from sticking

in the mold and to prevent “drag” marks.
surfaces (T-1) have a minimum of 3 degrees of
draft and that more heavily textured surfaces
(T-2) have a minimum of 5 degrees of draft.
Another example of the importance of draft
Undrafted Drafted in the manufacturability of your design is
illustrated in figure 2. In this case the draft not
only helps the part eject from the mold more
easily, but it also minimizes the amount of sliding
required between the mold’s telescoping shutoff
surfaces. A minimum of 3.0 degrees of draft
is required for telescoping shutoff features.
Figure 1: Draft definition.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n Draft your way to a better part n 3
 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Don’t cut corners! Foci on your radii.

Whenever possible, a part to be injection molded
should be designed with generously radiused
corners to enhance its quality and moldability.
As illustrated in figure 1, corners designed without
radii can cause stress concentrations. These in
turn may reduce the ability of the part to withstand
load and/or cause warping in its geometry.
Figure 2 illustrates how sharp corners might
adversely affect the flow of resin during molding,
potentially causing incomplete fill. They also Figure 1: Corner radii enhance part quality.

tend to cause the part to stick to the mold during

ejection, which can cause a variety of problems.
And in figure 3 we show how the judicious use
of fillets can also help to improve mold life by
helping to minimize corner stresses at the bottom
of tall, thin cores in the mold (at the entrance to
deep thin holes in the plastic part). These fillets Figure 3: Corner radii can enhance mold life.

also help to enhance the ability of the mold to

fill and further reduce internal part stresses.
See the Protomold Design Guide
for more details. Figure 2: Corner radii enhance moldability.

Volume 1 n Don’t cut corners! foci on your radii. n 4

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Start with
process where SPI (The Society of the Plastics
Industry) denotes an industry-standard finish.
The photographs shown in figure 1 illustrate

the right finish!

the difference in cosmetic appearance for a
few of these options on some example parts.
If the part will not be visible to the end
user, you will probably choose to specify
Figure 1: Surface finish examples.
either PM-F0 or PM-F1 using the drop-down
When designing a part for injection menus on your ProtoQuote (see sample).
molding, it is important to keep in mind slots in molds. And such lengthy polishing times
But many times your design will require a
the relationships between surface finish, may also affect the lead time for your parts,
more cosmetic surface finish. In these cases
moldability, cost, and lead time. potentially making it impossible for Protomold
there are two key things to keep in mind:
to accept your order for our famous 3-day turn.
Table 1 contains the list of standard surface Polishing: Smoother part surfaces are achieved
finishes available through Protomold’s Texturing: Given the line-of-sight nature of
using manual mold polishing techniques. Consider
rapid injection molding service, listed in bead blasting, it may not be possible to texture
a part with tall, thin, and curved ribs which needs
order from lowest to highest cost. the sides of minimally drafted ribs on a part
to have an SPI-A2 finish. In this case you should
because the mold surfaces may be inaccessible.
“PM” in the table signifies a surface finish expect a significant cost increase, because it
In addition, if the walls of your part are textured,
adjusted to fit the rapid injection molding is very time consuming to polish deep, narrow
it may have an adverse effect on the ability of
the part to release from the mold, potentially
resulting in unsightly “drag marks”. For these
SPI-A2: Grade #2 Diamond Buff, 1-2 Ra reasons we can only apply texture to areas
PM-T2: Protomold texture, SPI-C1 followed by medium bead blast of the part that are drafted at least 3 degrees
Higher PM-T1: Protomold texture, SPI-C1 followed by light bead blast for a T1, and 5 degrees for a T2 texture.
SPI-B1: 600 grit paper, 2-3 Ra
Cost SPI-C1: 600 grit stone, 10-12 Ra
See the Protomold Design Guide
for other helpful design information.
PM-F1: Low-cosmetic ­— most toolmarks removed
PM-F0: Non-cosmetic — finish to Protomold discretion

Table 1: Protomold’s standard surface finishes.

Volume 1 n Start with the right finish! n 5

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Thick section shrinking Figure 3

causes warping and sinking Thick walls cause sink,

warp & excess shrink.
Thinner walls give
accurate parts

thicknesses helps to avoid sink (see figure 3).

As the plastic solidifies in the injection mold, and thin sections, resulting in part warpage. So in Warpage due to stresses in step transitions
it freezes from the outside (near the mold the design of parts to be injection molded, it is a between wall thicknesses can be improved
surface) toward the inside. In thick sections good idea to maintain consistent wall thickness through the use of a ramp (see figure 4).
this results in inward pulling stresses (due to and avoid thick areas whenever possible. The use of gussets can be helpful to provide
contraction) that can cause sink marks in the support in corners to avoid warping.
outer surfaces of the part (see figure 1). Figure 2
See the Protomold Design Guide
Figure 1 for other helpful design information.

Figure 4

Bad Bosses

High stress Reduced stress

concentrations concentrations

Good Bosses

As Designed As Molded
Thicker and non-uniform wall thicknesses can
In addition, because thinner sections will freeze often result in sinks in the material due to the
faster than thicker sections, there is also the same solidification physics described above Thinner wall results in Gussets provide additional
warpage during cooling support to reduce warpage
possibility of stresses building up between thick (see figure 2). The use of thinner, uniform wall

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n thick section shrinking causes warping and sinking n 6
 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

The right resin is a material choice

Application-specific requirements will Mechanical Properties Moldability Characteristics
always drive the need for particular
Warp and Fills High temp
material properties like tensile strength, Some brand High temp- dimensional small Voids Sink in on mold & Relative
names Strength Impact strength accuracy, molded features in thick thick Flash ejectors cost
impact resistance, or ductility.
Medium-
But successful designs for injection Acetal Delrin, Celcon Medium Medium
Low
Fair Fair Poor Good Good Fair Medium
molded parts are also built on an
Nylon 6/6 Zytel Medium High Low Fair Excellent Good Fair Poor Fair Medium
understanding of process-related issues
such as the ability to fill the mold, Nylon 6/6, glass filled Zytel High Medium High Fair Good Good Fair Fair Medium
tendency to flash, ease of part ejection, Polypropylene Maxxam, Profax Low High Low Fair Excellent Poor Poor Poor Good Low
and the potential for warp, sink, or void
High density Dow HDPE,
creation. As noted in prior Design Tips, Polyethylene (HDPE) Chevron HDPE
Low High Low Fair Excellent Poor Poor Good Low

part geometry can be used to help address Medium- Fair to Medium-

Polycarbonate Lexan, Makrolon Medium High Good Fair Fax Good Good
some of these issues; but just as material high good high
properties are an important factor in Acrylonitrile Butadiene
Lustran, Cycolac
Medium-
High Low Good Fair Good Fair Good Good Low
Styrene (ABS) Low
meeting the requirements of a given
application, they should also be considered Polycarbonate/ABS Alloy Cycoloy, Bayblend Medium High Medium Good-excellent Fair Good Fair Good Good Medium

to ensure the moldability of the part. Plybutylene Medium-

Valox, Crastin Medium High Low Fair Fair Fair Fair Good
Terephthalate high
Table 1 lists some commonly used
Medium-
Polystyrene Styron Low Low Good Good Fair Fair Good Low
resins along with their brand names low
and a high-level summary of their Isoplast, Low-
Thermoplastic Elastomer Low High Low Poor Excellent Good Poor Excellent
material properties, moldability Santoprene medium

characteristics, and relative costs. Acrylic Plexiglass-Acrylite Medium Low Low Good Fair Good Good Good Medium

The complete list of resins is available Table 1: Resin Selection Guide.

on the Protomold Web site , and you
can visit the Protomold Design Guide
for other helpful design information.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n The Right Resin is a material choice n 7
 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Expect to eject
The Protomold Rapid Injection Molding Sometimes it is appropriate to adjust the design
process uses ejector pins of various of the part to accommodate the need for ejection
sizes to push the plastic part out of the pins to push the part out of the mold. For example,
mold after it has solidified. The sizes and figure 2 illustrates how an injector pin “landing
arrangement of these pins are selected to pad” has been integrated into the wall of a part
minimize the impact on your part design. design in order to provide sufficient material
for the full diameter of the pin to meet the
Figure 1 is an example of the illustration
part. Landing pads may also be used to provide
Protomold provides early in the process of
additional support for the ejection of thin curved
designing the mold so that the location and size of
walls, and in some cases the pins themselves
both the gate(s) and ejector pins can be approved.
can be contoured to fit the shape of the part.
Of course, always remember to provide as
much draft as possible so that the ejector pins
can do their job, especially for applications
where it isn’t possible to use mold-release
lubricants to help the part eject more easily.
Each situation is different, but a good
understanding of the use of ejector
Figure 2 : The wall of this part has been
pins is important when designing a increased to support the full impact of the
part to be Rapid Injection Molded. ejector pin without damaging the part.

Visit the Protomold Design Guide

for other helpful Rapid Injection
Figure 1 : A typical Protomold-supplied gate and
ejector pin layout submitted for customer approval.
Molding design information.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n Expect to eject n 8

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Be open to shut-offs
This month’s Design Tip combines elements of becomes a core/cavity design that is much easier
the prior July and November tips to address to mill and polish. And the end result is a part
the important relationship between the draft that can have significantly improved surface
designed into the part, the resulting parting line finishes as shown in the photographs in figure 2.
of the mold, and the final quality of the parts. Part from mold with deep, thin ribs.
Visit the Protomold Design Guide
As we reviewed in prior Design Tips, draft is for other helpful Rapid Injection
a critical feature of almost all part designs Molding design information.
to be injection molded because it helps the
part eject from the mold as easily as possible. Part from core/cavity mold.
But when you are deciding exactly how to Initial
Undrafted Figure 2 : Mold design affects part quality.
design the draft, it is helpful to understand Design
how your decisions will effect the mold’s
parting line geometry and shut-off surfaces.
Draft Design Draft
Figure 1 illustrates how the decision to draft Design #1 Decision Design #2
the walls of a simple part can have a major
effect on how the mold will be designed. In
“Design #1,” the walls of the part are drafted so
that they can be ejected from within deep, thin
mold cavities. The issue with this approach is
that deep, narrow slots are a challenge to mill
and polish, so you may not be able to achieve
the desired geometry or final surface quality. Mold Design Approach #1: Mold Design Approach #2:
“Deep Ribs” “Core/Cavity”
On the other hand, if the walls of the part are
drafted as shown in part “Design #2,” the mold Figure 1 : Draft design affects mold design.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n be open to shut-offs n 9

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Get a feel for texture

As illustrated in the September 2003 And also keep in mind that due to the line of sight Sinkage Thickness

Design Tip, Protomold offers the nature of the mold texturing process, it may not Back side
following two texture options: be possible to texture rib-shaped areas of the geometry
issues
part design such as those illustrated in figure 1.
PM-T1: SPI-C1 (600 grit stone, 10-12
Ra) followed by light bead blast Another thing to remember is the effect part
geometry may have on the quality of the desired
PM-T2: SPI-C1 followed by medium bead blast Front side
texture, even if the mold itself is textured texture
variations
If you plan to specify either of these textures via perfectly. For example, a wall with greater than
the drop-down menus of your ProtoQuote®, you nominal thickness will pull away from the textured
need to be aware of the fact that Rapid Injection mold surface during solidification, resulting in an
Molding requires a different draft angle on untextured area on the surface of the part. And a Figure 2 : Examples of texture problems caused
vertical faces for each of these texture options: wall with less than nominal thickness will tend to by variations in part wall thicknesses.
3 degrees for PM-T1 and 5 degrees for PM-T2. adhere more intimately to the textured surface,
which can often result in a flat, chalky appearance
Rib features on the part. Figure 2 illustrates examples.
poorly suited
to texturing
So there are even more reasons to pay attention
to the guidance in the October 2003 Design
Tip about using consistent wall thicknesses.
Visit the Protomold Design Guide
for other helpful Rapid Injection
Molding design information.

Figure 1 : Example “rib” geometries

that cannot be textured.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n get a feel for texture n 10
 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Living with hinges

Check out both of these excellent
articles for additional technical
design details and illustrations.
See figure 3 for a recent example designed
by our customers and manufactured
via Rapid Injection Molding:
At Protomold we don’t design parts - that’s Visit the Protomold Design Guide
your job. But if you happen to be unfamiliar for other helpful Rapid Injection
with the technique called “living hinges”, this Molding design information.
Design Tip may come in handy someday.
As described in detail by Dr. Glenn Beall in
his August 2002 Injection Molding Magazine
article, “By Design: Polypropylene part
design, Part 2 — Living hinges”, in the late
1950s it was discovered that below a certain
thickness, polypropylene molecules oriented
in the direction of flow. And repeated bending
Figure 2 : Box with living hinge.
perpendicular to that orientation was possible
without breakage due to the increased strength
that resulted. The name “living hinge” was given
Figure 3 : Example designed by our customers
to this technique and has been used ever since. and manufactured via Rapid Injection Molding.
Living hinges are very useful in certain designs for
injection molded parts because you can combine
two or three parts into one. And as noted on
efunda.com (an excellent online engineering
fundamentals resource) in a page dedicated
specifically to living hinges, a well designed
Figure 1A, 1B. Without a living hinge,
hinge in these materials can last for millions
this box would require two molds, two of cycles. Additional materials with somewhat
molding operations, and assembly. less of a life expectancy are Nylon and Acetal.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n Living with hinges n 11

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding
Draft

The hole picture

Fillet at entrance

Diameter

You may have heard the grade school riddle, piece of metal separately inserted into one Through-hole Guidelines for
“If you dig a four foot hole and fill in two feet side of the mold to provide the inner surface Rapid Injection Molding:
of it, how much of a hole do you have left? of the desired hole, especially if the hole is
• T he diameter of the hole should be
Answer: All of it, because you can’t have half deep. In conventional injection molding these
no smaller than .060” (1.5mm).
a hole.” Holes are just one of those things that pins are typically made from hardened steel.
are defined by the absence of something else. • T he length of the hole should be less
However, in rapid injection molding these features
than eight times its diameter.
When we want to incorporate holes into injection are milled directly into the mold geometry from
molded part designs, it can sometimes be a block of aluminum. And because aluminum • T he more draft on the hole - the better
complicated just getting them to happen in the has less mechanical strength than steel, it (minimum ½ degree in most cases).
right place with the right shape. One approach is desirable to take this into account when • A
 fillet at the entrance to the hole greatly
often used in moldmaking is to use “core pins” designing your part. Some general guidelines increases the strength of the core.
which essentially refers to the use of a cylindrical are provided in the following table and figure.
• A
 deep hole can sometimes be split and
drafted to each side.
Figure 2 illustrates an instance of a through-
hole design implemented using Protomold’s
rapid injection molding process.
Visit the Protomold Design Guide
for other helpful Rapid Injection
Molding design information.

Part Design Mold Core Design Mold with Core Pin Mold with Part

Figure 2: Example of a part with through-hole features created with the standard rapid injection molding process.

©2007 Protomold. All rights reserved. Volume 1 n The hole picture n 12

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Consider warp factors

We have another riddle for you to As illustrated in the Protomold Design Guide Figure 2
introduce this Design Tip: resin properties table, the tendency for resins
Gate
to warp varies significantly. Good or excellent
“When is circumference less than 2πr
dimensional behavior can be expected from
and when is it greater than 2πr?”
a polycarbonate/ABS alloy (e.g. Cycoloy), but
The answer is when you’re talking about a only fair or poor results should be expected
cone or a potato chip shape, respectively (see from materials like thermoplastic elastomer
Figure 1 illustrations). What’s the point? Well, if your (e.g. Isoplast) or glass filled nylon (e.g. Zytel). Of Gate
Gate
injection molded part is filled from the center course, there are other considerations to take
and the resin shrinks less in the flow direction into account when selecting a resin, such as
than in the transverse (as with any glass or additional mechanical properties and cost. Very seldom can you get everything you
Cone Shape
carbon filled resin), the part will want to warp want in one part, which is what engineering
In addition to looking at alternative materials, trade-offs are all about. But as a well-informed
into the shape of a cone. But if the material
sometimes warp can be reduced by changing designer, you can make a big difference in
has the opposite shrink characteristic, as with
the nature and/or location of the gate(s). For our ability to make your parts, and more
unfilled nylon, then it will tend to warp into
example, in the case of the disk-shaped importantly, the success of your project.
a potato chip shape. Either way, you may not
part illustrated above, rather than locating a
get the final geometry you’re expecting. Visit the Protomold Design Guide
single gate in the center of the part, it may be
Which brings us to this month’s discussion about advantageous to have several equally spaced for other helpful Rapid Injection
warp - something hard to predict with precision gates around the circumference of the part as Molding design information.
Potato Chip
Shape but usually manageable with the knowledge illustrated in the figure to the right. Although
of a few fundamentals. We’ve covered part this may result in knit lines where the resin
geometry-based techniques for managing warp in flows meet, the multi-gate approach may
our October 2003 Design Tip, but two additional cause the overall stresses to balance and
considerations are the characteristics of the help to avoid the cone or potato chip effect.
resin and the nature of the gate(s) to be used.

Volume 1 n Consider warp factors n 13

 Design Tips for Rapid Injection Molding

Know more knit lines

Know about knit lines? If knot — we hope much as possible about why they happen and unfilled materials will tend to have stronger
this Design Tip will be useful for you. how to reduce their impact on your design. knit lines than filled materials. In fact, knit line
strength will decrease with higher filler content as
A “knit line” in a plastic injection molded part As noted above, the size and shape of the knit
well as with longer fibers. In addition, materials
(see figure) is created when two separate plastic line is affected by the molding parameters, but
that that tend to outgas a lot (e.g. Santoprene) or
flows meet within the mold and resolidify along its location will be primarily governed by the
contain additives like flame retardants, lubricants,
their interface. Depending on the resin, resin geometry of the part. The primary cause of knit
and mold releases can further exacerbate the
temperature, mold temperature and filling speed, lines is the way the plastic flow rejoins after
problem. Third, it may be possible to improve
knit lines can vary from virtually invisible to it goes around a metal core in the mold. So for
the situation by working with Protomold to
something that looks like cracks in the plastic. this reason there is a knit line (visible or not)
optimally place the gate(s) so that the knit lines
And in some cases (e.g. long thin features with downstream from every hole that goes through
are minimized or moved to a less critical area.
resins like LCP) the knit lines can have reduced your part. And for similar reasons there is a knit
mechanical properties and be a cause of part line between every two gates on the part. Visit the Protomold Design Guide
breakage. So for reasons ranging from cosmetics for other helpful Rapid Injection
Protomold mold technicians try to minimize
to functionality, it is important to know as Molding design information.
the appearance of any knit lines, but they
must balance this with other challenges
like avoiding sink or blush, achieving the
desired surface texture, etc. So anything
you can do to help avoid knit lines when
designing the part would be a benefit.
Here are a few things to consider. First, thicker
walls will slow down the cooling rate of the resin
and thereby help to improve the appearance
Figure 1: Example of a knit line occurring
and strength of any knit lines. Second, the resin
on the backside of a hole. you select may make a difference. For example,

Volume 1 n Know more knit lines n 14