BDD 40903

INJECTION MOLD
DESIGN
BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 1
 CHAPTER 5
Gating Design (4 hours)

1. Gate location and number 3. Gating design process

2. Common gate design a) Determine type of gate
a) Sprue gate b) Calculate shear rates
b) Pin-Point gate c) Calculate pressure drop
c) Edge gate d) Calculate gate freeze time
d) Tab gate
e) Fan gate
f) Flash gate
g) Tunnel gate
h) Thermal gate
i) Valve gate

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 2

 Gating Design
• Each injection mold design must have a gate, or an opening
that allows the molten plastic to be injected into the cavity
of the mold.
• Gate type, design and location can have effects on the part
such as part packing, gate removal or vestige, cosmetic
appearance of the part, and part dimensions & warping

Objectives of Gating Design

1. Connecting the runner to the mold cavity
2. Provide automatic de-gating
3. Provide aesthetic de-gating
4. Avoid excessive shear or pressure drop
5. Control pack times

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 3

 Gating Design
Gate Types
There are two types of gates available for injection molding; manually trimmed and automatically trimmed
gates.

Manually trimmed Automatically trimmed gates

• These type of gates require an operator to separate the
parts from the runners manually after each cycle.
Manually trimmed gates are chosen for several reasons:
The gate is too bulky to be automatically sheared by the
machine
• Shear-sensitive materials such as PVC cannot be
exposed to high shear rates
• Flow distribution for certain designs that require
simultaneous flow distribution across a wide front
• These type of gates incorporate features in the tool to
break or shear the gates when the tool opens to eject the
part.
• Automatically trimmed gates are used for several
reasons:
a) Avoiding gate removal as a secondary operation,
reducing cost
b) Maintaining consistent cycle times for all parts
c) Minimizing gate scars on parts

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 4

Gate location and number
To avoid problems from gate location, below are some guidelines for choosing the proper gate location(s):

1. Place gates at the heaviest cross section to allow for part packing and minimize voids & sink.
2. Minimize obstructions in the flow path by placing gates away from cores & pins.
3. Be sure that stress from the gate is in an area that will not affect part function or aesthetics.
4. If using a plastic with a high shrink grade, the part may shrink near the gate causing “gate pucker” if
there is high molded-in stress at the gate
5. Be sure to allow for easy manual or automatic degating.
6. Gate should minimize flow path length to avoid cosmetic flow marks.
7. In some cases, it may be necessary to add a second gate to properly fill the parts.
8. If filling problems occur with thin walled parts, add flow channels or make wall thickness adjustments
to correct the flow.

Gates vary in size and shape depending upon the type of plastic being molded and the size of the part. Large
parts will require larger gates to provide a bigger flow of resin to shorten the mold time. Small gates have
a better appearance but take longer time to mold or may need to have higher pressure to fill correctly.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 5

Common gate design

• The largest factor to consider when

choosing the proper gate type for
application is the gate design.
• There are many different gate
designs available based on the size
and shape of plastic part.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 6

Sprue gate

• The Direct or Sprue Gate is a

manually trimmed gate that is used
for single cavity molds of large
cylindrical parts that require
symmetrical filling.
• Direct gates are the easiest to
design and have low cost and
maintenance requirements.
• Direct gated parts are typically
lower stressed and provide high
strength.
• This gate leaves a large scar on the
part at the point of contact

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 7

Pin-Point gate

• Pin point gate is commonly used in 3 plate mold

types, basically the pin point gate part is like
picture given.
• To make gate like that the manufacturer can buy
pin point gate bush in mold manufacture
company or the engineer could make it by EDM
(electronic Discharge Machine) Process, the
special EDM torch for Pin Point gate also
available in mold part markets.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 8

Edge gate

• The Edge Gate is the most common

gate design.
• As the name indicates, this gate is
located on the edge of the part and is
best suited for flat parts.
• Edge gates are ideal for medium and
thick sections and can be used on
multi cavity two plate tools.
• This gate will leave a scar at the
parting line.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 9

Tab gate
• The thickness of tab gate should be the same as the
part wall, so it can also make more thin, but when
designed parts for cosmetic parts if preferred that the
thickness is same with the product thickness.
rule number two is, make the gate as center as possible in
the product side, but you must consider the product size
and shape.
• Basically minimum tab width is about 6,5 mm and the
tab thickness minimum is 75 % from the thickness
product.
• Basically melted material is fed to this gate from a separate primary gate (after runner), the function of
the gate typically is employed for flat and thin parts to reduce the shear stress in the cavity.
• Tab gate able to used in various material plastic such us ABS, PS, acrylic, PP, PVC, Polycarbonate,
SAN and other which has relatively low fluidity.
• At this type of gate, the high shear stress generated around the gate that trimmed after molded. this
gate sometimes also called the collision gate.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 10

Fan gate

• Fan gate, is a gate spreading toward in to cavity, basically this gate is thin similarly with previous gate
(film gate) and is used in same purpose with film gate.
• With the gate construction it permits rapid filling of large parts or fragile section mold area with large
entry area. it is used to create uniform flow into wide parts.

Purpose of Fan Gate:

1) Keeping the cross sectional area constant.
2) To ensure a constant and more even plastic flow into the cavity into a wide area at a slow injection
speed, minimizing backfilling and reducing imperfections and stresses in the part.
3) To be used for thick-sectioned moldings and enables slow injection without freeze-off.
4) To favor for low stress moldings or where warpage and dimensional stability are main concerns.
5) The melt velocity will be constant.
6) The entire width is being used for the flow.
7) The pressure is the same across the entire width

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 11

Fan gate (continue)

Dimension

• The land thickness can be vary thin relative to the part

thickness because the gate is very wide.
• The maximum thickness should be no more than 80%
of the part thickness.
• If the parts very thin like 0,8 mm, you can also use 0.7
mm fan gate thickness, but when rubber is used as
material parts, use 100 % of the thickness parts is
more easy to control flow and product quality.
• The gate width varies typically from 6 mm up to 25%
of the cavity length.
• In large parts is often use fan gate as wide as the parts
it self.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 12

Flash gate

• Flash gate also called film gate is

very thin compare to another gate,
this thin gate like film which have
parallel runner before the gate, this
type of gate used for straight edges.
picture below shown film gate with
main parts.
• In general this gate used in thin and
flat requirement, like flat mobile
phone cap, ipod cap and others. but
sometimes this gate is not likely
going to have a flat flow front, the
make flow material more stable and Dimension
flat, make temperature molds more Recommended dimension is approximately 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm in thick, the land
higher than usual, but cycle time will area (parallel runner) is also be kept small approximately 0.6 mm - 1 mm
also higher. depend the large and weight of product.

http://mould-technology.blogspot.com/2008/04/film-gate-design-flash-gate.html
BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 13
Tunnel gate
• The Sub Gate is the only
automatically trimmed gate on the
list.
• Ejector pins will be necessary for
automatic trimming of this gate.
• Sub gates are quite common and
have several variations such as
banana gate, tunnel gate and smiley
gate to name a few.
• The sub gate allows you to gate
away from the parting line, giving
more flexibility to place the gate at
an optimum location on the part.
• This gate leaves a pin sized scar on
the part.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 14

Thermal gate
• Thermal gating or hot tip gating generally represents a
more economic mold investment compared to valve
gating, however hot tips have a tighter processing
window and are more sensitive to operate.
• The cyclical function of a thermal gate hot runner is much
more complex than that of a valve gate because it does
not have the benefit of positive shut-off pins that can open
and close the gate orifice.
• The thermal gate forms a small, solidified, cold plastic
slug inside the gate bore during the cooling time of the
plastic part.
• This slug remains in the gate during the mold open phase,
part ejection and mold close motion.
http://www.moldhotrunnersolutions.com/thermalgating.html

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 15

Thermal gate (continue)

• With the next injection the pressurized melt

flushes the cold slug into the melt stream that
fills the empty cavity.
• While all molding parameters (pressure,
temperature and time) are still focused on
producing a quality plastic part, they are also
responsible for the formation of the thermal gate
at every cycle to avoid drooling and stringing of
the gate.
• If gate quality is a critical factor, valve gated
hot runner systems are generally recommended
as they offer more processing control Hot Runners and Valve Gate Systems

http://www.moldhotrunnersolutions.com/thermalgating.html

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 16

Valve gate

• A hot runner system offers some significant

advantages in injection molding.
• A key component of such a system is the valve gate.
• The valve gate shuts off the flow of molten plastic to
the mold at a specific time right at the part surface.
• This allows a part to be molded without a sprue or
runner remaining on the part.
• Eliminating the sprue or runner improves the
appearance of the part, may shorten cycle times,
eliminates the need for a runner removal operation and
eliminates the waste associated with a discarded
runner or sprue.
Cold Runner Cell Phone Mold HASCO / MISUMI
With Valve Gate

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 17

Gating design process
• Gate is a passage way from the sub runner to the mold cavity, and its cross-section is
the smallest and shortest part in the injection system.
• Position ,number, shape and size of the gate have a direct impact on the quality and the
appearance of the product, and therefore, in the design process attention is required for
gate style

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 18

Gating design process
Principles of gate design :

1) Gate should set on the thickest wall position of molding products, make plastic flow from thick-wall
position to thin-wall position to reduce the pressure loss. Melt plastic should take the shortest possible path
(runner), minimal heat and pressure loss, rapid injection to complete the injection process.

2) Gate should be set in the position of products where is most likely to be cleared easily. Try to not affect the
appearance and avoid flow marks (if possible).

3) Gate location should help make the plastic flow on the uniform parallel direction and is positive to assist
air venting.

4) Gate location should set to avoid weld lines, keep clean of the important position of the products, and
avoid to reduce the strength of the products.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 19

Gating design process
Principles of gate design (continue) :

5) As to multi-cavity mold, the size and location of the gate should be designed on the distance between the
gate and the runner, on the size of the products .

6) Gate location should avoid directly impact on the thin core, inserts, sliders to prevent possible deformed
products.

7) The consideration of the gate design should involve different shrinkage between the transverse direction
and the longitudinal direction. Temperature and pressure of the melt from each gate into the cavity should
be the same to ensure that the same shrinkage for different cavity filling.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 20

Determine type of gate
• Every injection mold design has to have a gate, or an opening through which the molten plastic is injected
into the cavity of the mold. The type and size of gate plays a very significant role in the process of injection
molding and must not be overlooked.

• In the custom injection molding business, margins are extremely tight. This requires the mold maker to
make a very accurate determination of the size and type of gate for the injection mold. The wrong gate can
spell disaster, or at least reworking the mold, which can quickly eat up profits.

• There must be a gazillion plastic parts in the world: cell phones, computers, hula hoops, keyboards, TVs, toy
machine guns, goggles, etc.

• Gates vary in size and shape depending upon the type of plastic being molded and the size and shape of
the part as well. The size, type and placement of the gate used in plastic injection mold making have a
dramatic impact on the quality of the plastic part, as well as how quickly it is produced.

• Gates play an important role in the automation of custom injection molding.

http://articles.ulprospector.com/processing/injection-molding/2008/0519_design_gates_cell_phone.asp
BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 21
Determine type of gate
• To design a gate, the mold designer must first determine the type of gate to be design.

• The primary factor that should be considered include the type of runner system, the desired method of de-
gating, the allowable level of shear rates through the gate and the resulting flow that is desired.

• To facilitate gate location, Table 7.1 provides a summary of the types and properties of common gates.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 22

Calculate shear rates
• The shear rates are calculated according to the equations for flow in strips and cylinders.
• For reference, the formulae for Newtonian and Power-Law Flows are provided in Table 7.2.
• These formulas are based in the volumetric flow rate rather than the linear melt velocity.
• The reason is that molding machine can only provide limited control of the melt flow, and so the volumetric
flow rate trough the gate should be considered similar to hat through the runner system and mold cavity.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 23

Calculate shear rates

Source: David O. Kazmer, “Injection Mold Design Engineering”, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2007. (Page 177)

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 24

Calculate pressure drop
• If the shear rates are within the allowable limits, then the pressure drops are likely acceptable as well.
• However, the pressure drop through the gate should be calculated to ensure that adequate injection
pressure is available to fill the mold cavity.
• The pressure drops are calculated according to the equations in Table 7.3

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 25

Calculate pressure drop

Source: David O. Kazmer, “Injection Mold Design Engineering”, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2007. (Page 179)

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 26

Calculate gate freeze time
• After the mold cavity is filled with the plastic melt, additional material must be forced into the cavity to
compensate for volumetric shrinkage as the melts cools.
• As the melt in the cavity cools, the melt in the gate will also tend to cool. The frozen skin will propagate from the
mold wall to the centerline of the gate.
• Since no additional melt flow can be supplied to the cavity once the gate freezes, the molder should set up the
molding machine to the end of packing state at gate freeze off and begin thee plastication stage.
• The equation to calculate the minimum packing time are provided in Table 7.4.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 27

Calculate gate freeze time

Source: David O. Kazmer, “Injection Mold Design Engineering”, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2007. (Page 181)

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 28

Calculate gate freeze time
Gate Freeze Test.

• The purpose of the gate freeze test is to identify the hold conditions necessary to freeze the gate.
• The extent and duration of hold pressure has a large effect on the dimensional stability and outer appearance
of the molded part.
• If the hold time is too short, the gate will not have had enough time to freeze off and sink marks could
appear on the part.
• This is especially true of larger parts and when higher hold pressures are employed.
• After the mold gates "freeze", hold pressure has no effect and should be terminated at that point.
• It is typically better to be a little high on the hold pressure timer setting.
• This will cause a slight wear increase on the hydraulics of the injection press but the molder will be able to
ensure higher dimensional accuracy.
• Hold pressure is set at a pressure which allows no plastic melt to enter or leave the gate as the part solidifies.
• A high hold pressure setting could pack the part excessively, beyond dimensional tolerances.
• A low hold pressure setting will allow the melt to exit through the gate causing sink marks and voids in the
part.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 29

Calculate gate freeze time
• The gate freeze test is designed to achieve minimal dimensional variation by ensuring no plastic
leaves the cavity before the gate is frozen.
• Hold times in the sharply rising part of the weight curve introduce additional variation.
• The gate freeze can be accurately determined via flow analysis programs which utilize the cooling
circuitry layout, mold geometry, tool steel and hot/cold runner configuration.
• A predominant amount of the flow analysis programs assume isothermal conditions in the mold.
• This would produce best case results and typically the gate will never freeze off in this short of time.
Properly interpreted, the flow analysis results serve as a good starting point.

Notes:
1) When using a valve gated system, no hold time is required. Once the valve is closed, no material will
enter or leave the cavity. The valve is held open long enough to properly pack the part, and then
closed. At this point, no pressure needs to be applied.
2) Having poor shot size control on your molding machine and an imbalanced mold will lead to less than
desired results (lack of precision).

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 30

Calculate gate freeze time
Procedure:
1. Set melt temperature to resin manufacturer's recommended mid-range.
2. Set mold temperature to resin manufacturer's recommended mid-range.
3. Set cooling time long enough so that parts eject without being distorted.
4. Set fill rate from results of mold viscosity test and if desired, profile the injection stroke to have
velocity controlled pack. At this moment, record the dosing stroke and change over position. For the
remainder of the validation process this will remain constant.
5. Set hold time based on the machine operators experience, take their estimate and multiply by 1.5. Use
this as the starting point for hold time. If after running the test you do not identify a point at which the
gate freezes off, increase the hold time incrementally.

Caution: On some molds, high hold pressure and hold times can cause ejection issues. Pay heed to the
advice of the mold builder and do not increase the hold pressure and time to the point the parts are difficult
to eject off the cores. If you see this issue on your pilot mold, you may want to modify the mold or part
design to make your part ejection more robust.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 31

Calculate gate freeze time
6. Set hold pressure so that there are no visual sink marks.
7. Collect and weigh 3 consecutive shots to 0.01 grams or better.
8. Subtract one second from hold time.
9. Add one second of time to cooling in order to maintain a consistent molding cycle.
10. Begin a table similar to Table: Gate Freeze Test.
11. Graph the shot weight versus the hold time Figure 1: Gate Freeze Test.
12. Repeat steps 7 - 9 until the part weight begins to decrease.
13. Repeat the test with a high mold temperature and high melt temperature to document the worst case
scenario for hold time.

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 32

Calculate gate freeze time
The example result of gate freeze test was displayed in Table 1- The Result of Gate Freeze Test. From this
result, a typical "gate freeze test" curve was constructed as shown in Figure 1: Gate Freeze Test. There is a
region on the left side of the graph where small changes in hold time result in large changes in part weight.
These large changes in part weight may result in part quality variation with regards to dimensions or
mechanical performance. The region on the right side levels out at 3.5 seconds indicating that the part
weight is more stable and that the gate has frozen off, i.e., no polymer melt enters or leaves the cavity.

Table 1- The Result of Gate Freeze Test

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 33

Calculate gate freeze time
• Figure 1 displays a gate
freeze test when the gate
never froze.
• This is typical for hot tips
directly gated onto the part.
• The thicker the part, the more
likely this will occur.
• When such a curve is
graphed, identify the region
on the curve where a change
in slope is evident.

Figure 1: Gate Freeze Test

http://polymerprocessing.blogspot.com/2011/03/7-gate-freeze-test-validation-procedure.html

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 34

Calculate gate freeze time
• In Figure 2, this area is at 1.0 seconds. A hold time
of at least 1.5 seconds is recommended.
• It is possible the part will become over-packed and
either flash or stick in the core, causing ejection
problems, before obtaining a level curve.
• The above test had to be stopped at 4.0 seconds due
to the part sticking in the core at longer hold times.
• Therefore, the hold time could be set anywhere
between 1.5 & 4.0 seconds.
• If cycle time is not limited by hold time, a design of
experiments could be performed using hold time as
a variable.
• This will help to select the optimum hold time.

Figure 2: Gate Freeze Test

BDD 40903 Prepared by : Mohd Hilmi Othman 35