Plastic Part Design for Injection Molding

Registration

Course Number: PLSM.5250

Tuition: $2,000

June 2-5
Dr. Stephen Johnston
8:30am-5:00pm

July 8-11
Dr. Stephen Johnston
8:30am-5:00pm

July 14-17
Dr. Stephen Johnston
8:30am-5:00pm

For more information about registering, click here.

What Our Participants Are Saying

What did you like most about the seminar?

"The balance of complex topics with practical knowledge, coupled with the hands-on labs to finish the day."

"Hands-on mold tear down. Nice to see the different functions that create the features I put in parts."

What are a few things you learned that you’ll bring back to your work?

"Nominal wall thickness, draft, modeling with mold process in mind, potential failure modes we might hear from molders and how to address."

"Part design for minimizing mold complexity/cost. To better understand the reasons behind requests from our tooling/mold design team."

"Mold flow analysis, the impact of wall thickness, material selection, how features impact cost and design optimizations."

"Thank you so much for this seminar. It has helped me in many ways, and I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned in the job setting."

Overview

This seminar is offered to engineers and designers involved in the design of injection molded plastic parts. The course provides a fundamental overview of the many factors associated with plastic parts that will be produced using the injection molding process. In order to design a high-quality injection molded part, the designer must select an appropriate plastic material formulation, develop a functional design, and work within the manufacturing limitations associated with the mold design and injection molding process. This course will cover the fundamentals of plastic materials behavior and selection, engineering design, manufacturing (moldability) considerations, prototyping, stress analysis and assembly methods. The timely subject of design for enhanced recyclability will also be discussed, as will design developments related to new injection molding technologies.

Content

Introduction

Plastic material fundamentals and review of the injection molding process.

Fundamentals of Mold Design

Mold types; gates and runners; ejection considerations

Manufacturing-Related Design Considerations for Molded Plastic Parts

Mold filling considerations, shrinkage and warpage of molded parts, mold cooling considerations

Design Guidelines

Uniform wall thickness; factors affecting wall thickness; parting lines; tolerances

Mechanical Behavior of Plastic Materials

Short term stress-strain behavior, creep and stress relaxation, structural design of molded plastic parts, fatigue performance, impact performance, plastic materials databases

Design for Enhanced Recyclability

Design-related issues that enhance or hinder the recyclability of thermoplastic products

Case Study for a New Product

Steps involved in the development of a new part (including materials selection)

Prototype Part Production

Machine prototypes; rapid prototyping techniques; cast prototypes; molded prototypes, and rapid tooling techniques

Assembly of Plastic Parts

Selection of an assembly method; press fit assembly, snap fit assembly, mechanical fasteners, thermal welding techniques for thermoplastics, adhesive bonding and solvent bonding

Fundamental Design Considerations for 'Other' Injection Molding Processes

Structural foam, gas assist, multi-shot molding, multi-layer, metal injection molding

Lab Content

Design analysis and prototyping lab
Injection molding lab