Course Description

Instructor: Jason Williams

Fee: $1,350

Offerings

Click the appropriate date link to register for that course section 

Register for June 9–11 Register for Aug. 13–15

Time: 8:00 a.m.–noon (via Zoom)

Educational Goals

Seminar instruction teaches participants how to recognize the part design features and materials issues that either help or hinder the manufacturing process so they can produce successful, profitable parts. It is directed toward the custom and captive molder and mold designer who must cope with problematic part designs and plastic materials. At the same time, it offers the part designer guidance in designing products for manufacturability. An overview of plastic part design, material shrinkage and flow characteristics, some mold design, and injection molding is included to help participants develop an understanding of the complex relationship of these different factors and how they combine to create problems in the molding process. This seminar will explain the causes of, and means to solving, many unexpected problems including shrinkage variation, warpage, no fills, gas traps, weld line locations and effects, variations in part size, shape and weight, flash, core deflection, and steel fatigue. Participants can learn to recognize whether a problem is being created by the part design, material, runner design, gate location, process, or mold design.

Who Should Attend

This three half-day and remote seminar is designed to assist those involved at all levels in the development and production of plastic parts and tooling. Among those who can benefit from attending are mold designers, part designers, manufacturing engineers, project and process engineers, and molding and tooling managers.

Course Outline

  1. Part Design Guidelines for Plastic Parts
    • Benefits
    • Problems
  2. Part Design Features
    • Feature that create design difficulties
    • Features that present molding problems
  3. Material Shrinkage and Influences of:
    • Mold design
    • Process
    • Material type
    • Fillers
  4. Material Flow
    • Understanding flow through the mold
    • Improving mold design
    • Solving molding problems
  5. Mold Features
    • Optimizing gating locations
    • Runner layouts
  6. Gate and Runner Designs
    • Effects on moldability
  7. Balancing Runner Systems
    • Reducing product variation
    • Lowering clamp tonnage
    • Increasing the process window
  8. Development of Pressure and Forces in the Mold