Right-weighting versus Light-weighting Polymeric Components

Public perception and economic pressures are constantly pushing OEM’s, designers, and molders to minimize their use of plastic materials in their molded products. While consumers are pushing for more responsible use of plastic materials, they are unwilling to sacrifice part quality. To accomplish these light-weighting goals, many engineers and designers are utilizing optimization software such as generative design and topology optimization. However, many times these optimization codes focus solely on the structural aspects of the design, and only use short-term loading data to make these critical design decisions. They tend to ignore common plastic manufacturing constraints and durability concerns with long-term loading. This siloed approach leads to expensive modifications late in the product launch process that ultimately hurt or negate the initial effort placed up front to reduce the part mass.

This webinar will address the issues that can arise when taking this short-term, siloed view, and will highlight how manufacturing also needs to be considered during the optimization process to ensure successful products. Through case studies, the presentation will help the attendees gain a more holistic view of the light-weighting process so they can better optimize their best plastic part design.

At the end of this presentation the attendee will…

• Learn simple design guidelines for properly light-weighting plastic components and assemblies.
• Understand what material properties manufacturers and OEM’s need to properly design their plastic components and ensure product reliability.
• Recognize how injection molding and tooling constraints can be accounted for to holistically optimize the product and reduce time to market.