All too often, at Blue Ring Technologies, we run into the same problem. A client wants to manufacture a particular plastic product either designed by them or by an industrial designer. We inspect the file and quickly find that design is entirely un-manufacturable. This is a prevalent issue that rises in our community over and over again. In this blog, I want to address some of the typical lookouts you can use to review the design before taking to injection molding manufacturing. If possible, please consult with us at Blue Ring Technologies before you invest time and money into the project.
The Importance of Uniform Wall Thicknes
One of the most common issues we see is that in the world of plastics we cannot make parts extremely thick. They have limitations but also workarounds. Typical Resin Thickness is shown in the chart below:
| Typical Plastic Resins | Inches |
| ABS | 0.045 – 0.140 |
| Acrylic | 0.025 – 0.500 |
| Nylon | 0.030 – 0.115 |
| Polycarbonate | 0.040 – 0.150 |
| Polyethylene | 0.030 – 0.200 |
| Polypropylene | 0.025 – 0.150 |
| Polyurethane | 0.080 – 0.750 |
Material Selection
Plastic has different suggested wall thickness and strengths and weaknesses. It is essential that designing the part with a specific material from the begging is very important. Please check this Blog about the material selection to understand the differences.
Parting Line
Selection of Parting line of parts is the utmost importance we considering in plastic manufacturing. Undercuts, cams, sliders all affect the engineering design of the parts. The parting line is usually selected from the part orientation in which the mold is open and closed during the injection mold process. During the engineering design process, one can create the design in a certain way to create a simplified parting line. As a result, ultimately save you in mold cost.
Form-Fitting Assembly and Stress Simulation
We often see files that simply look fine, but the parts are never simulated to see if the parts form to fit into each other, for instance In engineering school, one of the first things you learn is giving tolerance to parts commonly overlooked by designers only to have disastrous results. A 3D engineering file should be mated and assembled together to simulate how parts form-fitted, as shown below.
Another common problem we encounter is selecting the materials and the possible stress forces applied to the part. This can cause clients much heartache when their product is tested or in the field only to find out a part cracked or broke due to the stress encounter. It is a good idea to use some of the stress simulations below to properly understand failure points and the potential to resolve them through design.
Our Mission at Blue Ring Technologies
In conclusion, At Blue Ring Technologies, we pride ourselves on having the ability to design, engineer, simulate, prototype, and manufacture, all in our facility. We are a unique shop that considers a vast wide of factors that ultimately save your time and money.
Please take into consideration all these factors next time you take a project and give us a call at 305-707-4251. We will be more than happy to guide you through the process of product development.
