Manufacturing tech

The Advanced Materials Guide for Injection Molding The advent of CAD systems, additive manufacturing, and CNC machining has made the design and manufacture of complex part designs almost routine. Engineers today are being asked to design parts that will probably be exposed to many different factors, including extreme weather, chemicals, bodily fluids, high stress/high load, impact, and other elements and situations that could affect the way a product is designed.  To achieve this sort of advanced product design in injection molding, advanced materials are often required. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the manufacturing and industrial design considerations for a variety of material options and offer material recommendations for different product design objectives, including glass and fiber-filled materials for stronger parts and silicone and polyurethane materials for flexible parts.

Scaling Up: From 3D Printed Prototypes to Injection Mold-Ready Designs We love the invention and design development process. We love seeing the concepts come together, love working through iterations of prototypes and finally (finally!) getting a design just right, fulfilling all the technical and aesthetic requirements. But do you know what’s even better? Seeing your designs in full-scale manufacture.  Unfortunately, once your design is beautiful and working well, that’s only half the battle won. For most plastic parts, you’ll need the design to be injection molded, which is the most common low-cost technology for producing large numbers of plastic parts.  In this guide, you’ll walk away knowing:  The basics of injection molding  How to prepare your design for easy molding and sectioning complex geometry  The steps needed for testing your updated designs  Moving into low-volume production

The Ten Most Common Plastic Injection Molding Materials Plastic injection molding materials have names that sound like terms from chemistry class. It’s hard enough that polyethylene rhymes with polypropylene, which has an abbreviation (PP) that’s similar to polystyrene (PS). Choosing the right injection molding material also means knowing your application requirements, which can change between prototyping and production. Fortunately, you don’t need a PhD in chemistry to make the right material choice. There are many factors to consider, of course, but it all starts with the basics: the names and abbreviations of leading materials, their advantages and disadvantages, typical applications, and common brands and grades. Download this guide to learn more.

The Guide to Injection Molding Production Injection molding comes after prototyping, but do you know how the production process works? When you’ve finished designing and prototyping your product, it’s time to scale up and start production. But injection molding is a complex undertaking, and to get your products to market quickly and cost-effectively, you need to know how the process works. In this guide you’ll learn about: Planning production timelines, including mold design and machining The importance of early DFM feedback Working on design, sourcing materials, and machining different elements in parallel to shorten lead times

The Complete Guide to Designing Tight Tolerance Parts Quality parts start with quality designs. Do you know how to make your design intent clear so your suppliers get it right the first time, every time? Producing precision parts is difficult, and good designs will help ensure your suppliers deliver parts that meet your specifications. Our guide explains how to create designs and drawings that effectively communicate required tolerances and your design intent — while ensuring that your parts and assemblies fit and function correctly. Download this ebook and you’ll learn: The basics of standard machining tolerances The common definitions and principles of GD&T, and why GD&T is key for good communication with suppliers and machinists How to ensure the functionality of your designs with tolerance stack-ups Best practices for creating clear, effective engineering drawings

CNC Secondary Operations Playbook When you’ve finished CNC machining your components, the work’s far from over. Those raw machined parts may have the shape needed to function, but what if they don’t have the right finishes or material properties needed for the end product? That’s what post-machining processes are for! In this ebook you’ll learn: About the 3 types of secondary operations: heat treatments, surface finishing, and hardware installation Which heat treatments can deliver the material characteristics you need Which finishing processes can deliver the right protection and aesthetics for your application What sort of hardware works best for your assemblies

CNC Machining Design Guide Packed with more than a dozen tips and tricks, Fictiv’s CNC Design Guide provides hardware designers and developers a handy blueprint for how to control costs by knowing which sizes and shapes to steer clear of, ensure quality CNC drilling, milling, and turning outcomes, and trim unnecessary fat out of the design and machining process. Let Fictiv’s CNC Design Guide show you the way. Control costs by knowing which sizes and shapes to avoid. Ensure quality CNC drilling, milling, and turning outcomes. Learn how to trim unnecessary fat out of the design and machining process.