Plastic injection molding is a process wherein thermoplastic and thermoset materials are used to produce plastic parts for various products. This process is widely used in the manufacturing sector to make custom components and parts for commercial purposes. Injection molding is widely used to make parts of various materials such as plastic, glass, and metals. Undercut in injection molding is a feature which prevents the part from coming out of the mold abruptly. This is performed with the help of die-locking. An undercut is basically a protrusion, cavity, or a hole in a part which helps in the over molding and insert molding processes. This post discusses about undercut injection molding benefits.
What is an Undercut in Injection Molding Process
Undercuts are protrusions or cavities in a molded part which prevent the mold fill from coming off the part. However, this happens with the help of adding latch or interlocking features to the part. Making plastic parts with undercuts is pretty challenging. There are a number of techniques or mechanisms used to make these undercuts:
- Slide
- Side Core
- Hand Load
- Cam
Undercuts require an internal core lifter or an extra mold material to form the required shape. This, however, is in case the undercut is on the inner side of the part. If there are more than one undercuts on the same side of the part, they can be handled with a single side core.
Undercut designs find many applications across industries. They are used to create threaded components or parts with ridges. These include certain types of bottle caps, lipstick holders, and various other automotive and medical products. For instance, caps of sealed bottles need to be removed in such a way that the interlocked threads of the part and the core are separated and the cap is pulled off from the bottle. The methods used for unscrewing of molds such as bottle from the cap depends on the flexibility of the plastic. Overall, making undercuts is complex and requires considerable amount of technology and investment. Hence, it is used for high-volume produce and the one meant for long-term use.
Benefits of the Undercut Process in Injection Molding
Undercuts offer certain advantages to the component, and preventing the part from ejecting the mold is the most obvious one. Here are a few more benefits:
- They add value to the design that can be listed as one of the component features.
- Undercuts enable connecting one component to another one with undercuts.
- Certain grooves or cavities on PCBs allow fixing or mounting of parts in them.
- Only complex undercuts may require tools for removal of parts during the demolding process; in case of simple undercuts, they are not required.
Are you looking for plastic injection molding services for your plastic components? If yes, ensure, you partner with a reliable service provider. Veejay Plastic uses high-performance resins for injection molding processes to make high-quality industrial components in a variety of shapes and sizes.
