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SPECIAL PRIZE WINNER
Project Name: Using Moldex3D Simulation Tools to Reduce Warpage in Drawer Slides and Shorten Cycle Times
Company: Dongguan Wise Plastic Product Co., Ltd.
By Xin-Yong Bu, Guo-Gen Chen, Ren-Chang He
Summary
In this project, the engineers at the Dongguan Wise Plastic Products were tasked with improving the part flatness of a drawer slide part. The main function of the drawer slide part is to ensure the smooth opening and closing action of the drawer. Therefore, the manufacturing of the part can be challenging with strict flatness specifications. In addition, the wear-resistant POM material used in this project tend to have high shrinkage rates, which must also be taken into consideration. Moldex3D allowed Wise Plastic Products to evaluate important factors and considerations affecting the part flatness prior to actual manufacturing. This helped them save time and cost and successfully achieved mass production.
Challenges
- Strict flatness specifications
- To improve part warpage
- To shorten cycle times
Solutions
Wise Plastic Products engineers used Moldex3D to evaluate and determine suitable gate and cooling channel designs. With the help of Moldex3D Pack analysis, the engineers were able to identify the dominant cause of warpage which is uneven shrinkage. The engineers also used Cool analysis to investigate the effect of uneven cooling on part warpage and estimate the mold cycle time. Finally, the engineers used Warp analysis to examine the amount of displacement in the X, Y, and Z directions, and achieved optimal design proposal to reduce part warpage.
Benefits
- Saved time and revision costs
- Reduced mold cycle time by 55%
- Reduced X-direction displacement by 300%
Products Used
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Moldex3D Professional Package
– Flow
– Pack
– Cool
– Warp
– Designer BLM