CAEDSMouldDesign

NumberofCavitiesandPositions
SchoolofTechnologyandManagement,PolytechnicInstituteofLeiria

Carefulconsiderationshouldbegiventothenumberofcavitieswithinamould.The Introduction costsofmakingthemouldmustbebalancedagainsttheproductionrequirementsfor the injected part. Good marketing data that can predict the sales volume for the in jectedpartoftenarethekeytosuccessfullydeterminingthepropernumberofcavities. Alsotheinjectionmachinemodelisverydetermentindefiningthenumberofcavities. Singlecavitymouldsarefrequentlyusedforlimitedproductionrunsorwhenthepart isverylarge,sothatthesizerequirementoftheinjectionmouldingmachinedoesnot becomeexcessive. When more than one injected part, all the same, is made in the same mould, the mouldiscalledamulticavitymould.Itcanbestatedthatthemorepartsproducedto specificationinasinglemouldingcycle,thehighertheprofit.Theobjectiveofamulti cavitymouldistoproducemultipleidenticalpartswithineachmouldinjectioncycle. This is much simpler said than done, even if we assume that steel dimensions and cooling between cavities are identical. Successful multiple cavity moulding requires thatthemeltconditionsintroducedtoeachofthecavitiesbethesame.Forinstance,a treeorfishbonerunnerlayoutwilluselessmaterialthanmostrunners,butwillresult in the most imbalanced filling of cavities in multicavity moulds when precision moulding is needed. As melt enters this runner system, it will progressively reach eachofthegatesandcavitiesalongitslength.Atarelativelyfastfillrate,inamould with nonrestrictive gates or cavity wall thicknesses, the cavities closest to the sprue will fill first and then progressively fill the remaining cavities along its length. In doingthis,eachcavitywillbefilledatadifferentpressure,flowrate,andmelttem perature. A balanced flow to each of the cavities in a multicavity mould will maximizethepotentialofproducingpartswithinspecificationandprovidethelargest processwindow.Whenproducingamulticavitymould,amouldthatallowstheuse ofmouldinsertstodefinethecavityandcore,mightprovevaluable.Therefore,when apartneedstobechanged,theinsertsforonepartcanberemovedandtheinsertsfor thesecondpartputintheirplace. Some moulds are built so that the cavities are different from each other, in order to inject different parts with the same mould. These moulds, called family moulds, are usuallyconstructedsothatallofthepartsofaparticularassemblycanbemouldedat thesametime(likemodelairplanes,etc.).Theobviousadvantageoffamilymouldsis thatonlyonemouldneedstobeusedtomakeallofthepartsintheassembly.How ever,therearealsosomedisadvantages.Ifpartsofdifferentshapesaretobemadein onemould,therunnersystemshouldbesizedsothattheflowdowneachlegisthe same,thusfillingallofthemouldssimultaneously.Thesizingofrunnersystemsfor nonuniformpartsisverycomplicatedandresultsinaslightdecreaseinpartaccuracy inmouldswherethecavitiesaredifferentifnotproperlydesigned.

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CAEDSMouldDesign Experiencehasshownthatfamilymouldsaremostusefulwhensmallquantitiesofan assemblyaretobe madeorifthemouldisjustforprototypingandseparate,multi cavity moulds making identical parts are to be constructed after the part has been exactlydefinedandthemarketestablished. Whendesigningamouldforinjectionmoulding,certaininformationmustbedefined inordertostartthedesignprocess,suchasprocessvariablesandprocessparameters. Processvariablesare:partgeometry,mouldingmaterial,demandsonthepart,lotsize and delivery date. The process parameters are: number of cavities, major mould dimensions,injectionmachinemodel,mouldcostsandcostofinjectedparts. These variables and parameters are all dependent of each other, for instance, the numberofcavitiesalsodependson:theavailableproductiontime,productquantity required,machineshotsizeandplasticizingcapacities,shapeandsizeofthemould ings, and mould costs. In spite of these dependencies, the number of cavities is directly dependent of the major mould dimensions, which is determined from the injection machine model. Once the injection machine is chosen, the major mould dimensionsareautomaticallydefined,whichthendefinethelimitforthenumberof cavitieswithinthemould. Inordertoaidthedeterminationofthenumberofcavitiesinthemould,andbearing in mind the limit number of cavities, three simple formulas are presented. Use the minimumvaluederivedfromthefollowingformulastodefinethenumberofcavities. Productquantity If the dimensional tolerance of the part is not very critical and a large number of mouldingsarerequired,multicavitymouldsarepreferred.Thenumberofcavitiesis dependentonthetimeavailabletosupplyaspecificlotofparts(tm),thenumberof partsinthelot(L),thecycletimetoproduceasinglesetofparts(tc),therejectfactor (K),expressedasK=1/(1rejectrate). Therelationis: Determinationof thenumberof cavities

NC =

L K tc tm

Shotcapacity The injection machine shot capacity is also a factor in determining the number of cavities.Take80%ofthemachinecapacityastheshotweight(S)anddivideitbythe partweight(W)togetthenumberofcavities. Therelationis:

NC =

S W

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CAEDSMouldDesign Plasticizingcapacity The injection machine plasticizing capacity is also a factor. Divide the plasticizing capacity(P)ofthemachinebytheestimatednumberofshotsperminute(X)andpart weight(W). Therelationis:

NC =

P XW

Afterthenumberofcavitieshasbeenestablished,thecavitieshavetobeplacedinthe CavityLayouts mouldas ingeniouslyas possible. In injection moulding machines, the barrel is usu ally positioned in the central axis of the mould. This establishes the position of the sprue.Thecavitiesthenhavetobearrangedrelativelytothecentralsprueinsucha waythatthefollowingconditionsaremet: Allcavitiesshouldbefilledatthesametimewithmeltofthesametempera ture. Theflowlengthshouldbeshorttokeepscraptoaminimum. Thedistancefromonecavitytoanotherhastobesufficientlylargeloprovide spaceforcoolinglinesandejectorpinsandleaveanadequatecrosssectionto withstandtheforcesfrominjectionpressure. Thesumofallreactiveforcesshouldbeinthecentreofgravityoftheplaten, inotherwords,theremustbeequilibriumoftheforcesinthemouldduring injection.

Bearinginmindtheconsiderationsforcavitylayout,threepossiblesolutionsmaybe used.Inthetablebelow,isillustratedthepossiblesolutionswiththeadvantagesand disadvantagesofeachone.

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CAEDSMouldDesign Table1:Comparisonofcavitylayouts. CavityLayout Circular Advantages Equalflowlengthsto allcavities,easy demoulding (especiallyofparts requiringunscrewing device). Disadvantages Onlyalimitednumber ofcavitiescanbe accommodated.

Inseries Spaceformore cavitiescompared withacircularlayout. Unequalflowlengths toindividualcavities (auniformfillingis onlypossiblewith correctedchannel diameters).

Symmetrical Equalflowlengthsto allcavitieswithout gatecorrection. Largerunnervolume, muchscrap,rapid coolingofmelt. Toavoidthis,ahot manifoldoran insulatedrunner systemmustbeused.

Bibliography
HowtoMakeInjectionMolds;3rdedition;G.Menges,W.MichaeliandP.Mohren;Han serPublishers SuccessfulInjectionMouldingProcess,DesignandSimulation;J.P.Beaumont,R.Nagel andR,Sherman;HanserPublishers PlasticsMaterialsandProcessing;3rdedition;A.BrentStrong;PearsonPrenticeHall

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