PST662

Principles of Product Design

Teaching Methodology: Lecture
Course Work
: 60%
Final examination 2-hour paper: 40%

PST662
Principles of Product Design
References
Morton-Jones, D.H.and Ellis, J.W., Polymer
Products , Chapman and Hall.
Lockett, F.J., Engineering Design Basis for
Plastics Products, HMSO
Malloy, Robert A.,Plastics Part Design for
Injection Molding: An Introduction,,(1994)
2

PST662
Principles of Product Design
Product design consideration; from the concept of design
to the drawing of selected design in view of the product
application and functionality.
Selection of appropriate materials according to design,
manufacturing and cost of production.
Analysis of the preliminary designs for uniformity of
section thickness, strength and assembly.
Mechanical behaviour for structural designs;
Stress analysis for polymers, dynamic and cyclic loading,
static loading and stiffness.
Designing for quality,
Function, production, economics, rigidity and toughness 3

PST662
Principles of Product Design

Mould design :Sprue, runner and gate designs.

Design for manufacturability
Mould filling, shrinkage, warpage and tolerances
Design for assembly
Screw fittings, press fit, snap fit, metal inserts
Welding of plastic products
Hot gas, hot plate, friction, electric resistance, magnetic
induction, radio frequency (microwave) and ultrasonic
Decoration in plastics
Self colouring, marbling effects, painting, metallization, hot
and mould foiling and printing
4

Concept of Design to the Drawing of Selected Design in

View of the Product Application and Functionality

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to Design,

Manufacturing and Cost of Production
Make Molding Simple

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to Design,

Manufacturing and Cost of Production
heat vs density of melt

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to Design,

Manufacturing and Cost of Production
heat vs density of melt

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to

Design, Manufacturing and Cost of Production
Melt at Rest vs During Flow

Polymer chains are forced to

change from their random coil
state to an elongated coil
The degree of elongation
/alignment is dependent on the
nature of polymer and shear
rate
Shear rate is dependent on the
channel dimension
Decrease of channel dimension
will increase the shear rate

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to

Design, Manufacturing and Cost of Production
Molecular Orientation

Molecular orientation is caused by shear flow

The high amount of shear inside the frozen layer, produce
high orientation

tensile force

tensile force
Low orientation

High orientation

Shear rate - min

max

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to Design,

Manufacturing and Cost of Production
orientation vs Anisotropy
Molecular Orientation caused by
weak/strong anisotropy depending
on the direction of orientation
The difference in anisotropy caused
Shrinkage to occur.
Shrinkage is greater in the flow
direction (orientation) than in the
cross direction (transverse)

11

Summary

Flow Patterns
Orientation
Shrinkage

12

Selection of Appropriate Materials According to Design,

Manufacturing and Cost of Production
COMPENSTAION FOR SHRINKAGE

13

Orientation that are Frozen

Stress that weaken product and causes
failure at lower applied stress levels. This
caused cracks to propagate in the direction
of flow easily. This can also leads to
dimensional instability
However, when heat is applied, it induces
molecular relaxation which produces
warping or distortions.
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Frozen orientation (cont)

15

Frozen orientation (cont)

16

Pseudo Plastic Flow behaviour

Liquid not sheared

Liquid sheared

Orientation

Extension

Deformation

Destruction
of Aggregates
17

Area A

Force F

h
t
g
.
g

(Dynamic) Viscosity
Shear stress
Shear/deformation
Shear rate

t = h
F
t =
A

x
v,F
y

g =

.
*

N
m2

g
= Pa]

dx
g = dy
dv = dg [ m
=
s
*
m
dy
dt

1
]
s

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Dynamic viscosity h [Pas]

t = shear stress [Pa]

.
g = shear rate [1/s]
1 Pas = 1000 mPas

t
h=
g

1 mPas = 1 cP (centi Poise)

Kinematic viscosity n [mm2/s]

= density [kg/m]
1 mm/s = 1 cSt (centi Stokes)

h
n=

19

Newtonian Flow Behaviour

Constant Proportionality between Shear Stress and Shear Rate
Viscosity remains constant

500

100

Flow curve

450
400

300
250

10

Viscosity curve

200

h [Pas]

t [Pa]

350

150
100
50
0

10

15

20

25

.
g [1/s]

30

35

40

45

50

20

Non Newtonian Behaviour of Plastics

Shear Rate Dependent
At constant time, if viscosity decreases with shear rate
SHEAR THINNING
1.0

120

100

h [Pas]

t [Pa]

Flow Curve
80

60

40

Viscosity Curve
20

50

100

150

200

250

.
g [1/s]

300

350

400

450

500

0.1

21

Non Newtonian Behaviour of Plastics

Shear Rate Dependent
At constant time, if viscosity increases with shear rate
SHEAR THICKENING

10

3000

Viscosity Curve
2000

h [Pas]

t [Pa]

2500

1500

1000

Flow Curve
500

50

100

150

200

.
g [1/s]

250

300

350

400

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At constant shear rate, if viscosity

Decreases with time :THIXOTROPY
Increases with time : RHEOPEXY

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Heating and Cooling

Problems:
Dimensional Tolerance
Internal Stresses
Dimensional Stability During Service
Plastics has a high thermal expansion and contraction
Coefficient of linear expansion,
= expansion / (original length x temperature rise)
Coefficient of cubical expansion,
=3
The expansion of the material per degree rise in temperature
Typically a 1000C rise in temperature produces an increase
between 0.005 and 0.2 mm/mm depending on the material grade
and the molding conditions

24

Shrinkage
Excessive decrease in dimension in a part after processing or cooling
Typically due to:

Temperature gradient
Rate of cooling
Pressure during shaping
Anisotropy due to orientation
Amount of crystals
Semi crystalline Vs Amorphous
PS do not shrink in comparison to PE
Degree of cooling
PET can produce up to 50% crystallinity
when cooled rapidly

25

Shrinkage (cont)

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Shrinkage (Rectify)
Inside Mould
Adjust the mould temperature. A cold mould solidifies and forms a
plastic skin sooner than a hot mould, resulting in a shrinking of plastic
before full injection pressure is applied. However, a hot mould allows
polymer melt to continue to move and be compressed by injection
pressure before solidifying.
Typically, a 10% change in mould temperature can result in a 5%
change in original shrinkage.
Inside Barrel
Adjust the barrel temperature while plastic resides in the barrel

In general, the higher the plastic temperature, the greater the amount
of shrinkage. This is because of the increase in activity (expansion of
molecules) of the individual plastic molecules as the temperature
rises.
Typically, shrinkage rates can be changed 10 % by changing barrel
temperatures 10 %
27

Shrinkage (cont)
Minimize by:
Incorporation of fillers
Thermal expansion of the plastics lowered.
However, fillers may affect dimensional
stability and produce anisotropy
Optimise mould/melt temperature, reduce
variation in temperature
Reduce variation in wall thickness.
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Warpage
Moulded part is twisted or bent from the intended shape
after ejection.Common in thin walled containers and large
flat moulded parts
Some possible cause:
Differential shrinkage within component
Remedies, to check:
Mould temperatures for both halves of the mould
Injection rate - may be too slow (or too fast).
Mould cooling - avoid differential cooling

29

Warpage

30

Warpage

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Part Shrinkage Versus Mould

32

Part Shrinkage Versus Mould

33

34

Temperature and Rheology

On application of heat, molecules vibrates and mobility increased
Viscosity, for at given polymer melt at different temperatures are
superposable by shift at constant stress

Temperature and Rheology

Viscosity is lower at high temperatures

The elastic modulus of polymers is less sensitive to temperature change

Table compares the Relative Fluidity Index value (RFI) at different temperatures for different polymers

Due to Non-Newtonian character of the polymer melts, superposition of

flow curves at produces temperatures shift at constant stress.
The viscosity dependence on temperature decrease at high shear rates

Importance of Temperature Monitoring in Rheology

In polymer processing, high temperature is expensive
More energy is required to raise the temperature.
Time necessary to cool the material to form a stable
product.
May lead to decomposition
Thus, in practice we usually seek to process in the
lowest temperature in which the temperature will
increase with work output
Hence, if material can be softened by heat input early in
the process, then non-uniform heat generation can be
avoided at the later stage in the processing

Effects of Pressure
Pressure reduces both free volume and molecular mobility so leading to an
increase in viscosity
The influence of pressure on viscosity is qualitatively similar but opposite in
sign to that of temperatures.
Pressure may be considered as the negative of temperature
The application of P (differential pressure) increases the viscosity;
T is the differential temperature rise viscosity
( T / P)
where = viscosity
However instantaneous temperature rise, T resulting from the
instantaneous pressure, P.
( T / P) s,
where s is the entropy which is a measurement of disorder.

The correlation suggests that if no direct measure of the influence of pressure

on viscosity is available, then the thermodynamic function may be used as a
guide.

In polymer processing, the combination of high pressure and low

temperature will tend to promote the crystallization of some materials so
that in some cases, the harder one pushes, the less the material
will flow.

Sinking
Depression in a moulded product caused by
shrinking or collapsing of the resin during cooling.
Main cause:
As the resin changes from a molten state to a
solid state, it occupies a smaller volume (this is
called shrinkage). As more and more of the
molten resin solidifies a vacuum is formed in the
thicker sections and this tends to pull the surface
of the moulding inwards and forms a depression
called a sink mark
43

Sinking

44

Sinking

45

Ways to Reduce Sinking

Hold-on pressure - too low

Hold-on pressure time - too short

Mould temperature - too low.
Gate increase in gate number
Part section too thick
Incorporate fillers
46

Thick sections
When moulding thick sections, the surface
layer becomes hotter than the interior layers
Due to poor conduction of the polymers
expansion on the surface is greater than the
interior hence developing differential
expansion
Requires the removal of heat efficiently, thus
more energy needed for cooling

47

Uniform Wall Thickness

Constant wall thickness or gradual transition between thick

an thin wall section

Ratio of thick to thin is 3: 1.

All surfaces perpendicular to the parting lines are tapered to
assist ejection of the components from the mould

Any abrupt changes to flow leads to internal stresses and

differential thermal gradient.

These stresses can lead to an area of tension and

compression that will result in warping and fracture. However,
the thermal stresses can be reduced by annealing during
moulding or post moulding.

48

Corners

Two walls adjoin and

interrupt the smooth flow
of melt.

Set up internal stresses,

especially with fiber
reinforced materials

Act as notched which

encourages failure

Should be designed with

the radius rounded
49

Part Thickness and Corners

Range 0.5 mm to 4 mm
(0.02-0.16in), dependent
on the part design and
size.
A molded piece should
have uniform thickness
throughout

Corners

51

Bosses
Bosses are used for mounting/fastening point purposes
or to serve as reinforcement around holes

Boss

53

Boss
To support moulded parts or studs for assembling
components.Metal inserts should not have sharp
corners and boss must sink into the inserts on
cooling because of higher coefficient of plastics
Can be incorporated via ribs at corners or along the
side of the wall
Ejector pin must be incorporated at the base of
each boss at the cavity side cavity to facilitate
extraction. This also allows air to escape, thus
avoid burn mark on the surface and incomplete
filling
54

Boss

55

Weld line

Melt line

HEAD ON of 2 flow front

PARALLEL FLOW of 2
flow front

Multi gating system

Flow around pins

Caused local weakness

Caused local weakness

Inconspicuous areas

Inconspicuous areas

56

Weld lines

57

Weld lines

58

Designing for Stiffness

Resist deflection under bending load; deflection (Y)
is inversely proportional to the stiffness factor
(1 / ( E I ))
Two ways of resisting Y

select material with high E

select a suitable cross section geometry & design, I
Important :
shear ( torsion) forces and deformation must be
considered as a cross section may have high
resistance to bending but not necessarily to
torsional shear
59

Reinforcing ribs

Effective way to improve the rigidity and strength

Save material and weight
Shorten molding cycles and eliminate heavy cross
section
Disadvantage, may produce warpage and stress
concentration

Analyzing Defects

61

Chart of Defects

62