CAEDSInjectionCastingDesign

Drafts
TampereUniversityofTechnologySannaNyknen

Draft angles are almost always necessary for any vertical wall of an injection
moulded product. Draft angles will ease the parts ejection from a mould. If the
partsareproducedusinganormalcavityandcoreconfiguration,usuallythecavity
is motionless and the core is attached to the moving plate. Usually the part will
staywiththecorewhenopeningthemould.Thisisaconsequencefromtwothings:

Materialshrinksandcausesacontactpressureandfrictionalforcesbe
tweenthecoreandthepart
Thepartwillbepushedawayfromthecavitywallbecauseofwallthick
nessmaterialshrinkage.Draftanglesareusuallyaddedtothecavitysideof
themouldbecausethiswaytheyassistthepartsreleasefromthecavity
whenthemouldopens.

Cavity draft angles have many advantages. They reduce the effects of undercuts,
eliminate sliding friction and facilitate air movement which compensates the vac
uumeffectwhenopeningthemould.Draftanglestypicallyrangefromafractionto
severaldegrees.Draftanglesaredependedondepthofdraw,materialrigidityand
shrinkage,surfacelubricity,andmouldsurfaceroughness.

Figure1.
Cavity draft angles
easethepartsejectionfromthemould
.Based on Malloy: Plastic part design
forinjectionmolding,page89.

Itisalsopossibletomanufacturepartswithnodraftangleatall,butsomekindof
special mould action is needed to pull the cavity away from the part when the
mouldopens.Forexampleasplitcavityisonepossibility.
Whenthemouldhasbeenopenedandthepartejectedfromthecavity,itmustbe
then ejected from the core. It is very characteristic for plastic materials to grip
tightlyontothecore.Thereforeforcesneededtoejectthepartcanbeverysignifi
cant. The highest ejection forces are the initial breakaway forces which are
influenced by material shrinkage and modulus, coefficient of friction, surface
roughness, contact area and draft angle. Draft angles from 0.25 to 2 are com
monlyusedforcores.Reasonforusingthedraftanglesincoresisthesameasitis
withcavitydrafts.Ifthedraftanglesarelarger,theywillimprovethepartsejection
evenmorebuttheyalsohavearemarkableeffectontheproductsshape.Coredraft
angles reduce the initial ejection forces and this way simplifies ejection system
design.

Cavitydraftangle

Zerodraft

Coredrafts

Drafts1

CAEDSInjectionCastingDesign

Example1.

Figure2.
Core drafts are
needed for parts ejection from the
core after the mould has opened
.Based on Malloy: Plastic part
design for injection molding, page
89.

Draftanglesresultpartslooseningfromthecoresurfaceaftertheinitialbreakaway
andtheejectionforceswilldropoffquicklyafterbreakaway.Thissuddenlylossof
contact area makes air easier to flow cores surrounding area to compensate vac
uumeffectsandcanleadtopartsdamage.Airvalvesandventingpinsareused
for very large and deep draw parts to break the vacuum and blow the part away
fromthecoreafterinitialbreakaway.Veryoftenthecoredraftanglesaresameas
cavity draft angles. It is recommended to use parallel draft because it results in
partsuniformwallthickness.

Figure3.
External draft .Based on Rosato:
Injectionmoldinghandbook,page602.

Abovepictureisagoodexampleofanapplicationofadraftangle.Whenasmall
draftangleisused,theoutsidesurface(mouldsurfaceproducingpart)willrequire

ahighdirectionalfinishbecauseofmakingpartsremovalfromthemouldeasier.

Example2.

Figure4.
Internal draft. Based on Rosato:
Injectionmoldinghandbook,page602.

Abovepicturehasaseparatinginsidewallthatshouldbeperpendiculartothebase.
Inthiscasethedraftwouldbeonthelowside.Thiswayadditionalmaterialusage
is low, the voids close to the base are avoided and cycle times increase wont be
happening.Alsointhiscasetheverticalmouldingsurfaceswillneedamuchbetter
surfacefinish.

Drafts2

CAEDSInjectionCastingDesign

Figure5.
Using of multiple drafts for easing part
removal .Based on Rosato: Injection molding handbook, page
603.

Figure6.
Using
parallel
drafts with heavy walls. . Based on
Rosato: Injection molding handbook,
page603.

Whenapplyingadraft,onedifficultyisthecreationofheavywalls.Problemcanbe
solvedbyusingparalleldraftsonwalls.

Example3.

Example4.

Draftanglesfordifferentplastics.Thesevalueshowevervarydependingonmany Draftanglesfor
previouslymentionedreasons.
differentplastics

Plastictype

Draftangle

Polycarbonate(PC)

12

Polystyrene(PS)

>0.5

Polyarylsulfone(PSU)

12

Polyarylethersulfone(PES)

12

Liquidcrystalpolymers(LCP)

>0.5

Polybutyleneterephthalate(PBT)

11.5

Polyethyleneterephthalate(PET)

11.5

Acrylonitrile/Polybutadiene/Styrene(ABS)

>0.5

Polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA)

>12

Polyethylene(PE)

>0.70.8

Polypropylene(PP)

>0.7

Drafts3

CAEDSInjectionCastingDesign
Draft angles have a quite big influence on the plastic products shape. Every fea
ture, like bosses, ribs and holes must be drafted. For example ribs should have a
draftangleonbothsidesofthecavity.Thepositivepointaboutthesedraftsisthat
theyeasetheejection.Howevertheribwillbecomehardertofillanditwillhave
lessastiffeningeffect.Thereforeuseddraftangleshouldbeacompromisebetween
improvedejectionwithoutcausingaremarkablelossofstiffness.

Draftanglesand
productfeatures

Iftheinjectionmouldedpartisproducedusingtexturedsurface,itneedsadditional
drafttoeasetheejection.Cavities,thathavearandomtexture,needabout1to1.5
draftanglepersideforevery0.025mmoftexturedepth.Somedirectionalpattern,
like wood grain running perpendicular to the direction of the draw, may usually
needgreaterdraftangles.Surfacetexturesareusuallyappliedtothecavitysideof
thetool,outsidesurfaceofthemoulding.Insidetextureswhichformonatextured
core are very difficult to eject because material shrinks tightly around the core.
Evengreaterdraftanglesareneededifthesekindoftexturedcoresareused.

Undercut is a draft to the wrong direction e.g. to the direction, which prevents
the casting ejection. Undercut can also be a hole or recession, which is at least
partially parallel to the mould parting surface. Undercuts should be avoided on
injectionmouldedparts.Usingundercutsoninjectionmouldedpartisquitediffi
cult. Parts where materials flexibility makes part ejection possible are exceptions.
Undercutsraisethecostofthemould,approximatelyfrom15to30%.

Undercuts

Therearesomebasicruleswhendesigningundercuts.Theprotrudingdepthofthe
undercutshouldbe2/3ofthewallthicknessorless.Alsothemouldsedge,which
isagainstthepartwhenthepartisejectedfromthemould,shouldberadiused.It
prevents shearing action. The part ejected should be hot enough to allow easy
stretchingandreturntoitsoriginalshapeafteritisremovedfromthemould.

Basicdesignrules

Basically it is not possible to pull parts with external undercuts from the cavity
whenthemouldopens.Inthatcaseitisnecessarytousesideactionsorsplitcavi
ties.Partsejectionfromthecoreispossiblewithsomedegreeofinternalundercut.
At this phase of the process, the cavity has been withdrawn and the part can de
formoutwardswhiletheinternalundercutridesoverthecore.Thesuitableamount
of undercut is depended on undercut design, material properties on ejection tem
perature and tolerances required for dimension. Materials like thermoplastic
elastomerscanbeinjectionmouldedwithverylargeundercuts.Ontheotherhand
rigid,glassypolymerscanhaveaverysmallamountofundercut.

In some cases internal undercuts are cut into the core to ensure that the part will
stayonthecorewhenopeningthemould.Partsthathaveinternalundercutscanbe
manufacturedtotightertolerances.Thesizeandtheshapeoftheundercutarenot
limitedbytheductilityoftheplasticmaterialwhenspecialtoolactionsareusedto
release the undercut. These kinds of actions are unscrewing mechanisms, remov
ableinserts,liftersandcollapsiblecores.

Drafts4

CAEDSInjectionCastingDesign
Partwontbewithdrawnbyusingnaturallyejectionfromthemould.Thereforeitis
necessary to make mould parts, which make undercut areas, moving sideward.

Thishassomeeffectsonpartsappearance:

Theboundariesbetweenmouldpartsbecomevisibleontheplasticpart.

Therewillbeflashesbetweenthemouldparts.
Theheatregulationofthemouldbecomesdifficultbecauseseparatecool

ingcircuitsarenecessaryformovingparts.Necessarilyitisnotalways
evenpossible.

References
Jrveletal.,Ruiskuvalu,Plastdata,Tampere,2000.
Rosatoetal.,InjectionMoldingHandbook,3rded.,Kluwer,2000.
Malloy,PlasticPartDesignforInjectionMolding,HanserPublishers,1994.

Drafts5