subject: Plastic Product Design: Tips To Achieve Better Results! [print this page] Be it your car or computer, you will find the use of plastic in almost everything and everywhere around you. Plastic product design is a specialized job that requires extra efforts and differs from the product design using metals.
Here in this article we will discuss five important tips for plastic product design and engineering:
Draft Angle: Draft angle is the slant angle of a plastic part. During plastic product design, providing a proper draft angle is important for an easy removal of the plastic part from a mould. For better results, keep the draft angle within the recommended guidelines. Generally, a draft angle is of 1 to 2 degrees if there are no textures or lettering on the surface. In case of lettering and textures, an additional draft angle of 1.5 degrees per 0.025 mm depth of the texture is recommended.
Wall thickness: Another major point to keep in mind during plastic product design is keep the wall of the products thin. The thicker the wall, the slower the cooling rate that in turn leads to the chances of getting defective plastic parts. If you require a thicker plastic wall, go for it but make sure the wall thickness is uniform throughout the plastic part that you have designed. In case you cannot avoid uneven wall thickness, make sure to put gradual changes in the thickness.
Radius: To minimize stress concentrations and moulding defects during plastic product design try and avoid sharp corners. Make sure to keep the radius to at least equal the thickness of the plastic part and the centre point for the internal and external radius should coincide. In short, external radius = internal radius + thickness.
Rib: One method of avoiding warpage in plastic product design is to provide one or more ribs in the design. At the same time, the thickness of ribs should be kept to a minimum or it will be subjected to moulding defects such as shrinkage. The ideal thickness of the rib should be kept between to 1 times the wall thickness of the plastic part. The height of the rib should be less than three times the thickness of the plastic part. A one degree taper angle is recommended for rib design.
Although the plastic product design procedure seems similar as metal casting design, the thickness of casting components is normally higher than that of plastic products.
If you are looking for a solution to plastic product designs, Detekt Design is the place for you! We are experienced designers & manufacturers of plastic products and have helped many businesses and entrepreneurs through Design Prototyping UK, Product Industrial Design UK.
