This section will cover the following basic concepts

• Injection molding process and how it works
• Plastic processing methods such as 

• Rotational molding
• Extrusion
• Vacuum forming
• Blow molding
• Gas-assisted injection molding

• Mold cycle and the factors affecting it
• Thermoplastics and thermosets
• The current trends in the industry
• The types of plastics being used
• The properties of these plastics and, 
• How to select them

For the uninitiated, we’ve also included a session on the basics of SOLIDWORKS where we take you through

• Basics of sketching
• Basics of using features in SOLIDWORKS

After getting a basic understanding of injection molding from the previous session, in this session we will jump into the technical side of designing the mold.

The topics we will be covering are:

• How the product development process takes place in the plastic industry
• Various departments in plastic manufacturing industries and the workflow
• Parts of mold - core, cavity, guide pillar, sprue, register ring, guide bush, ejector pin,  return pin, spacer blocks, core plate, cavity plate, ejector plates, etc.
• 2 plate & 3 plate molds
• Drafts
• Parting lines

In the SOLIDWORKS session, we will continue where we left in the previous session and learn about the various surface tools used for designing.

In the third week, we will be covering theory related to various concepts and terms used in mold design. The topics we shall cover are:

• Concept of machine tonnage and how to calculate it
• DFM study where we will look at various concepts such as gate point, wall thickness, cores, tolerance, venting, ejector pads, inserts, ejector inserts, guide pillar, support block, relief, free play inserts,  multi-gate position, and flow leader.
• Various defects that may occur during the mold design process such as short shot, flash, weld lines, sink marks, blisters, jetting, burn marks, warpage, gloss differences, hesitation, overpacking, and unbalanced flow.

In the fourth week, we will be studying the theory behind parting surfaces. The topics that will be covered are as follows:

• What is a parting surface?
• Types of parting surfaces such as flat, stepped, angled and profiled parting surfaces
• Example cases where we will try to understand the selection of parting surfaces
• Matching drafts
• Shrinkage 
• Inserts 
  
  

In the SOLIDWORKS session, we will start with our first mold design tutorial. We will be covering a simple plastic component and we will learn the following:

• Doing draft analysis for the model
• Creating parting lines
• Creating shut-off surfaces
• Creating parting surfaces
• Create basic mold blocks

In the fifth theory session, we will be looking at the topic of sliders and ejection systems. The topics that will be covered are:

• Need for sliders and their working. 
• 2 general types of sliders - sliding split type molds and the angular lift pin type molds.
• Methods of actuating the sliders such as finger cam, dog leg, cam track, spring and the hydraulic actuation
• Concept of slider locking
• Various types of ejector systems such as pin, sleeve, stripper and blade ejector systems.
  
  

In the SOLIDWORKS session, we will be creating a mold for the outer cover of a disposable camera.  The steps we will follow are mentioned below:

• Creating parting lines, shut-off surface, parting surface, and mold blocks for the model.
• Creating ejector pins for the mold.
• Creating inserts for the mold.

In the sixth week theory session we will be learning about runners and gates. The various topics covered are as follows:

• Types of gates such as sprue, edge, tab, overlap, fan, disk, ring, spoke, film, pin, submarine and cashew gates.
• Runner diameter calculation
• Types of runners
• Runner configurations
• Why engravings are used in cavity

Then in the SOLIDWORKS session, we will be creating a mold for a door bezel model. The topics that will be covered are as follows:

• Creating the parting lines, shut-off surfaces and parting surfaces of 3D profile for the model.
• How to work in assemblies and how to arrange files in a specific format.
• How to align the sprue of the mold with the origin of the assembly.
• How to select proper dimensions for the mold blocks.
• Creating mold blocks for door bezel.

In the seventh week, we will continue working on the door bezel model from the previous session and learn the following topics:

• Locating undercuts in the model and understanding how the use of sliders will help in solving the undercut issue.
• Creating slider split
• How to assign proper dimensions to the slider
• Editing the core cavity blocks according to the shape of the slider.
• Creating bolts, washers and locking mechanism for the sliders.

In the eighth week, we will start creating a mold for a CPU fan case model and we will learn the following topics:

• Complex parting line selection that can reduce the number of sliders required for the model.
• How to provide correct matching drafts for the model.
• Then we will create the core-cavity surfaces for the model. After that, we will align the sprue location, select dimensions and create the mold blocks for the CPU fan case in assembly. We will also see how to add reliefs for the core-cavity blocks.

In the ninth week, we will continue working on the CPU fan case model and we will learn the following topics:

• Locating undercuts in the model 
• Creating a slider split for the undercuts.
• Assigning proper dimensions for the sliders.
• Providing reliefs for the sliders.
• Creating inserts for the model.

In the tenth week, we will start creating a mold for a plastic knob model and we will learn the following topics:

• Creating the parting line, shut-off surface and the parting surfaces for the plastic knob model model. 
• Automatic and manual shut-off surface creation.
• Core-cavity surfaces for the plastic knob model.
• Sprue alignment
• Selecting dimensions and creating the mold blocks for the plastic knob in assembly. 

We will also be covering some theory behind the cooling channels for a mold.

In the eleventh week, we will continue working on the plastic knob model and we will learn the following topics:  

• Creating multiple inserts for the model
• Creating holes for fixing the inserts. 
• Locating undercuts and creating a slider split for it
• Complex slider creation
• Assigning proper dimensions for the slider.

In the twelfth week, we will continue working on the plastic knob model and we will learn the following topics:  

• Creating an ejector system which will include the angled ejector pins, reliefs, ejector plates and ejector back plates.
• How to make the channels for plastic injection which will include the sprue, runner and gate for the mold.
• Understanding the use for providing air vents in a mold and then creating channels for the passage of air from the mold.
• How to select the dimensions and positions of the cooling channels in the mold and how to create them