Aligning the Design and Manufacture of Glass Reinforced Plastics for Success - Design Optimization

This event is the third in our four-part series on how to successfully design and manufacture parts using glass reinforced plastics. The strength that glass reinforcement can impart to plastic materials is phenomenal. Glass fiber reinforced plastics offer enhanced mechanical properties, particularly strength and stiffness over unfilled materials. Their use is widespread in a wide variety of applications where mechanical integrity is essential. However, this benefit is not without its challenges. This series will focus on what to consider when selecting, designing for, and manufacturing glass reinforced plastic materials.

Building off of the previous webinars, it is common for designers to turn to material datasheet of fiber reinforced plastics and select property values to start optimizing their composite part design. However, care needs to be taken to ensure the design elements, such as nominal wall thickness selection, rib and boss design, and joining method are all considered when evaluating the robustness of the product design.

This seminar will provide attendees with guidance on how these design elements could influence the overall expected mechanical response of your molded part, and how tools such as structural and injection molding simulation can be used to proactively drive design decision prior to getting your suppliers involved. Additionally, other issues such as poor weld line performance, part warpage and residual stresses will be discussed. This presentation aims to explain, through both theory and case studies, how design decisions drive potential part performance issues, and what designers should start considering as they optimize their part design, and start to engage their manufacturing partners.