How to design injection mold gate?

An injection mold gate is a small hole that allows the molted stuff into another mold chamber. For a successful design, designers have to consider a lot of factors, such as mold pate types, materials, location, dimensions, gate type, and many economic factors, just to name a few. Let’s find out how an injection mold gate is designed by a Chinese injection mold making factory.

injection mold gate design
injection mold gate design

Gate design carries a lot of importance if you want to get high-quality mold parts. Given below are a few factors that should be considered when designing the injection mold gate with injection mold design services in China. Read on.

Material

First off, choosing the right material is really important for the design process. Use the wrong material and be ready to suffer a loss. Based on the type of machine, the right material should be used.

Keep in mind that castings are strong enough to withstand the stress. For stronger parts, the cast material should be machined first. If you need to work on sharp corners, know that it can create difficulties during the molding process.

Size

The size of the gate also depends upon the resin and the part that you are going to mold. It’s important to note that small gates offer a better look but they take higher pressure or longer mold time for proper fill.

Also, high pressures in the cavity cause more stress, which can result in a structural failure.

On the other hand, bigger gates allow smoother resin flow and reduced mold time. Now, if the size of the gate is not right, it may restrict the molten resin. As a result, the material won’t be able to reach the next cavity. In another scenario, this restriction may slow down the filling rate, which may reduce the process efficiency significantly.

In the worst case scenario, if the size is not right, you may end up with gate defects, such as black streaks and mold warpage, just to name a few. So, the size of the gate is of great importance.

Location

Just like size, the location of the gate can have an impact on different factors. And these factors are extremely important for the whole process. Given below are some of those factors.

  • Aesthetics (flow lines, voids, sink marks, gate marks)
  • Operational considerations
  • Wrong flatness or roundness
  • Mold warpage
  • Part shrinkage
  • Wrong structure or strength of the part
  • Molecule orientation

At times, multiple gates are required in order to enjoy the best results. However, for using multiple gates, designers may want to take into account the meeting area of the flows, as this can cause many issues related to aesthetic and component weakness.

Defects

Now, let’s talk about the defects. Know that whether it’s the wrong position or size, any defect may cost a great deal of time and money. To correct the issues, the location of the gate may need to be changed. In some cases, the entire mold has to be re-configured.

So, these are a few things that can help you find out how you can design an injection mold gate by an injection mold maker in China.

Resource box: This article is originally posted in https://www.injectionmouldchina.com.