General Design Guidelines

General Design Guidelines

Plastics are used in a variety of diverse and
demanding applications
There are design elements that are common to
most plastic parts

Wall thickness
Ribs
Bosses
Gussets
Draft

General Design Guidelines

Keep walls as thin as possible
Thick enough to meet strength requirements
If too thick part will warp or crack
Thinner is better

Use a uniform wall thickness

Areas where the wall increases in thickness are subject
to warping, cracking and showing sink marks
Change must be gradual and not exceed 20% of
thickness

General Design Guidelines

Use ribs and gussets to improve part
stiffness
They provide a good way to strengthen a part
without making the wall thicker

Use generous radii at all corners

Eliminates stress concentration and will make it
easier to remove the part

Design parts with draft to facilitate removal

Wall Thickness
What are the considerations for deciding wall
thickness?
It must be thick and stiff enough for the job. Wall thickness
could be 0.5 to 5mm.
It must also be thin enough to cool faster, resulting lower part
weight and higher productivity.
Any variation in wall thickness should be kept as minimum
as possible.
A plastic part with varying wall thickness will experience
differing cooling rates and different shrinkage. Where wall
thickness variation is essential, the transition between the two
should be gradual.

Wall Thickness
Solid shape molding is not desired in injection
molding due to following reasons.
Cooling time is proportional to square of wall
thickness. Large cooling time for solid will defeat the
economy of mass production. (poor conductor of heat)
Thicker section shrink more than thinner section,
thereby introduce differential shrinkage resulting in
warpage or sink mark etc. (shrinkage characteristics of
plastics and pvT characteristics)

Wall Thickness
Therefore we have basic rule for plastic part
design; as far as possible wall thickness should
be uniform or constant through out the part.
This wall thickness is called nominal wall
thickness.
If there is any solid section in the part, it should be
made hollow by introducing core. This should
ensure uniform wall thickness around the core.

Wall Thickness

Wall Thickness
Core out thick sections
of the part to create a
uniform wall thickness

Wall thickness
When thickness
changes are necessary
use gradual transitions

Corners
Corners of the part should be rounded to
reduce the stress concentration at the corner
and make removal easier
They are the number one cause of part
failure, stress concentration, poor flow
patterns and increased tool wear

Corners
Corners should always
be designed with a
minimum fillet radius
of 50% of wall
thickness and outer
radius of 150% of
thickness to maintain a
constant wall
thickness

Draft
Draft is necessary for ejection of parts from the
mold
Recommended draft angle is 1 degree with
degree on ribs
Draft all surface parallel to the direction of mold
separation
Use standard one degree of draft plus an additional
one degree of draft for every 0.001 in of texture
depth

Draft Guidelines

Ribs
Ribs are an economical means to improve
stiffness and strength without increasing
overall wall thickness
Other uses for ribs
Locating components of an assembly
Providing alignment in mating part
Acting as stops or guides

Ribs
Proper rib design involves five main issues

Thickness
Height
Location
Quantity
Moldability

Ribs
In parts where sink marks are
of no concern, rib base
thickness, t, can be 75-85%
of wall thickness
Where sink marks are
objectionable rib base
thickness, t, should not
exceed 50% of wall thickness
if textured
30% if not textured

Multiple ribs should be twice

the wall thickness apart

Ribs

Gussets
Gussets are rib like features that add
support to structures such as
Bosses
Ribs
Walls

Limit gusset thickness to one half to two

thirds of wall thickness to prevent sink
marks

Gussets
Contour lines show
flow front position at
incremental time
intervals.
Squared gussets can
trap air in the corners.

Gusset Design

Bosses
Bosses find use in many part designs as
points for attachments and assembly
Most common variety consists of
cylindrical projection with holes designed
to receive
Screws
Threaded inserts
Other types of fastening devices

Bosses
The outside diameter of
bosses should remain 2 to
2.4 times the outside
diameter of the screw or
insert
To prevent sink marks,
keep the boss wall
thickness to nominal wall
thickness the same as for
ribs
Bosses should have a
blended radius at the base

Bosses
Boss Sink Recess
A recess around the
base of a thick boss
reduces sink.

Holes and Cores

Cores are the protruding parts of the mold
that forms the inside surface of features
such as holes, pockets and recesses
Design parts so that cores can separate from
the part in the mold opening direction
Otherwise you will have to add slides or
hydraulic cores

Holes and Cores

The depth to diameter ratio of blind holes
should not exceed 3:1
If the core is supported on both ends the
depth to diameter ratio doubles to 6:1
Holes will be no closer to each other than 2
times the part thickness or twice the hole
diameter

Molded Threads
The molding process accommodates thread
forming directly in a part
External threads centered on the parting line
add little to the molding cost
Internal threads require unthreading devices
which add to molding costs

Molded Threads
Common thread
profiles used with
plastics

Molded Threads
Stop threads short of
the end to avoid
making thin, feathered
threads that can easily
cross thread
Limit pitch to less than
32 threads per inch for
ease of molding and to
prevent cross
threading