This course will cover the four basic components for a successful plastics application. They are: materials, part design, tool design and construction and process. Under materials we will cover families of materials, polymer flow and shrinkage. Part design will cover basic principles of design. Tooling principles will also be covered. Processing will be covered in “Processing for Injection Molding”.

There are four major processing variables that affect the Injection Molding Process. With a combination of classroom discussion and lab we will cover these variables. They are melt temperature, fill speed, pack pressure and cooling rate. We will discuss and demonstrate what press input affects these variables. The injection forward phase of the process will be broken into “fill” and “pack and hold.” Decoupled, Scientific, Systematic and 3-stage molding will be discussed and clarified.

In this course we will cover advanced techniques which include graph interpretation, rigorous mold tryouts and process development (sampling new tools). Cavity pressure sensing will be discussed. Drying of materials will also be covered. Equipment variations will be discussed. They include presses (electric vs. hydraulic), (toggle vs. hydraulic), screw designs, drying equipment and thermolators. This course includes labs.

Explores the foundational skills needed to read and interpret industrial prints. Beginning with the basics, the learner progresses in a logical order through orthographic, pictorial, assembly, section and auxiliary views of products. In addition, you will learn how to interpret part dimensions and tolerances. Emphasis is also placed on title blocks, change blocks and shop notes and symbols. The symbols of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing are introduced.