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MoldflowDesignGuideAResourceforPlasticsEngineersFirstEditionEditedbyJayShoemakerMoldflowCorporationFramingham,Massachusetts,U.S.ACopyright©2006MoldflowCorporation.Allrightsreserved.TheinformationcontainedinthisdocumentrepresentsthecurrentviewofMoldflowCorporationontheissuesdiscussedasofthedateofpublication.BecauseMoldflowmustrespondtochangingmarketconditions,thecontentofthisdocumentshouldnotbeinterpretedtobeacommitmentonthepartofMoldflow,andMoldflowcannotguaranteetheaccuracyofanyinformationpresentedwithinthispublication.Thisdocumentisforinformationalpurposesonly.Moldflowmakesnowarranties,expressorimplied,inthisdocument.MoldflowisatrademarkorregisteredtrademarksofMoldflowCorporationand/oritssubsidiariesandaffiliates.Allothercompanynames,brandnamesandproductnamesaretrademarksortradenamesoftheirrespectiveowners.MoldflowCorporation492OldConnecticutPath,Suite401Framingham,MA01701USATel:+15083585848Fax:+15083585868’ssoleguidinggoalsincethecompanywasfoundedover25yearsago.Thisfocuseddeterminationledustointroducemanynewandexcitingtoolsintothemarket,eachcontributingtoachievingourgoalinsomeway,whetherbydrivingcostoutofproductionwithreducedmaterialusageorshortenedcycletimes,reducingmolddeliverytimebyminimizingre-work,orincreasingthereliabilityofsupplybyenablinghigherqualityproductstobemanufacturedwithgreatersuretyinscheduling.Theartificiallybalanced,multi-cavityandfamilymoldsthatarenowcommonplaceweremadepracticalthroughtheadventofourearlysimulationandrunnerbalancingcapabilities,whichwereintroducedinthelate1970sandearly1980s.Asthesetoolsevolved,wewereabletovisualize,andthereforecontrol,flowpatternsandweldlines.Thisevolutioncontinueduntilwearrivedinthe2000swithanarrayofsophisticatedtechnologytocontrolwarpage,accountforheattransfer,predictcoreshift,adapttonewmoldingprocesses,andmuchmore.Fromtraditionalmidplanetechnologytofullythree-dimensionalsimulations,alloursolutionsarewellintegratedintoasolid-modelingdesignenvironment.Asthetechnologyhasevolved,sohasitsusage.WhenMoldflowsimulationtechnologywasintroduced,itsprimarypurposewastosearchforremediestopre-existingmoldingproblems.Itsoonbecameevidentthattheinsightthesoftwareprovidedtosolvemoldingproblemswouldbebetterappliedaheadofactualmolding,duringthedesignprocess.Thismethodology,whichwecall“problemavoidance,”wastheprimaryuseforMoldflowtechnologyforthefirst20yearsofitsexistence.ForMoldflow,thiscreatedauniquechallenge:toopentheworldofmanufacturingtothedesignersofpartsandmolds.Whatconstitutesanineffectivedesignformoldingmaybeapparenttoaseasonedprocessingengineerlookingretrospectivelyatapoorlyperformingtool,buthowcandesignengineersusetheCAEtoolstovisualize,diagnoseandsolvethesesameissuesaheadoftime—without20yearsofmoldingexperience?Howcanmanufacturersgofurtheranduseinformationthatcannotbeseenintherealmoldingprocessbutisrevealedviasimulation?ThekeythatunlockedthispuzzlebeganitslifeastheMoldflowDesignPhilosophy.ThisiswidelyviewedasthemostimportantpublicationMoldflowhaseverproducedandhasspawnedfollow-onworksonrelatedsubjects.Ratherthanprovideinsightintotheoperationofthesimulationtools,MoldflowDesignPhilosophysetforthsimpleprinciplesthattranscendanyspecificsoftwareapplicationand,asaresult,areasvalidwithtoday'sadvancedsimulationproductsastheywereovertwodecadesago.Inmorerecentyears,anothertransitionhasoccurred.Theglobalimperativetodrivedownthecostofmanufacturinghasledtotheuseofmoldingsimulationasacostoptimizationtoolratherthanforproblemavoidance.ThischangehasincreasedthenumberofMoldflowusersbyanorderofmagnitudeacrossafarbroadercross-sectionoftheplasticsindustry.Greaterdesign-centricityleadstoevenmoredependenceontheplasticsdesignprinciples,whichcanbeusedtodriveoptimization.VIForewordDespiteaquarterofacenturyoftechnologicaladvances,thegoldenyearsofCAEareaheadofusasourindustrytakesabroaderandmoreintegratedviewofwhatittakestomanageaproduct’slifecycle.Moldflowisproudofitscontributionstodateandwillcontinuetofocusondevelopinginnovativetechnologycoupledwithpracticaldesignprinciplestodelivermoreprofitablemanufacturing.RolandThomasPresident&CEO,MoldflowCorporationPrefaceVIIPrefaceAboutthisBookTheoriginsofthisbookincludenotonlyMoldflowDesignPrinciples,butalsoWarpageDesignPrinciplespublishedbyMoldflow,andtheC-MOLDDesignGuide.Collectively,thesedocumentsarebasedonyearsofexperienceintheresearch,theory,andpracticeofinjectionmolding.Thesedocumentsarenowcombinedintothisbook:theMoldflowDesignGuide.TheMoldflowDesignGuideisintendedtohelppracticingengineerssolveproblemstheyfrequentlyencounterinthedesignofpartsandmolds,aswellasduringproduction.Thisbookcanalsobeusedasareferencefortrainingpurposesatindustrialandeducationalinstitutions.HowtoUsethisBookThisbookhasseveralchaptersandappendicesthatdealwithdifferentstagesofthedesignprocessandprovidesbackgroundontheinjection-moldingprocessandplasticmaterials.•Thefirstthreechaptersintroduceinjectionmoldinghowpolymersflowinsideinjecti