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DESIGNING WITH PLASTICS:

Poor rib design can actually make a part weakernot stronger.

A Practical Guide for Engineers A Design Recipe For Ribs

Recommended Rib Design ow do you like your ribs? mating parts of a snap-fit design, We recommend well done requires a change in geometry to because failure to observe decrease the moment of inertia and a basic design rules on thickness, reduce stress on the part. height and radii could lead to preRules for Ribs Use mature failure of an otherwise flawOnce youve determined that a rib lessly designed part. Poor rib design is the appropriate solution, you could also create cosmetic probH must observe a few basic rules in lems in a part or slow molding time. R their design. The primary purpose of ribs in Start with rib thickness, which plastic design is to improve the can affect part weight, cosmetics, stiffness of the structure. Ribs do T warpage and moldability. Thick this by increasing sectional propribs can cause internal voids as erties, specifically the moment of W well as sink marks on the part surinertia. Because stiffness is a R = T/4 face opposite from where they are function of moment of inertia and H = 4T attached. The amount of sink is Youngs modulus, you can also W = 0.4T in order to minimize sink marks W = 0.6T in order to maximize strength also affected by the type of materimprove stiffness by increasing ial, processing conditions, surface the modulus of the material. You Keep the thickness of the rib less than the thickness of the adtexture and relative location to a can do this either by using more joining wall, but by how much depends on several factors. gate. Materials with high stiffness glass fiber or by using a material with a higher modulus. However, there are often practi- and low shrinkage rates, such as IXEF polyarylamide, create less sink. One rule of thumb, as shown in the dical and economic limitations to this approach. agram at the top of this page, is to limit rib thickness to When evaluating the use of ribs, first consider potential 40% of the thickness of the wall to which it is attached causes of stress. When we work with customers on parts that failed, we to minimize sink marks. Go up to 60 percent to maxineed know if it was due to excessive load or excessive de- mize strength. Consult your materials supplier for a recommendation specific to your application. flection, explains Sebastien Petillon, CAE engineer for The guidelines apply to the thickness at the base of Solvay Advanced Polymers of Alpharetta, GA. These are the rib. The rib should be tapered as it rises from the two different reasons for part failure and cannot be dealt wall to create a draft angle for easier ejection (see diswith in the same way. cussion of draft angle in Part IV of this series at Failure due to excessive load can be remedied by http://rbi.ims.ca/4398-502). adding a rib, which increases the moment of inertia and Keep in mind the surface characteristics of the oppoimproves stiffness. Failure when deflected, often seen on site wall when considering rib thickness. If the appearWhere to Find the First Four Parts? ance is critical or glossy, play it safe with thinner ribs. This is Part Five of a Design News series on plastics design Another idea: You can disguise slight sink marks with sponsored by Solvay Advanced Polymers of Alpharetta, GA. steps, a textured surface, or through the use of product The previous installments, listed below, can be accessed at markings on the opposite wall. http://rbi.ims.ca/4398-502. Rib thickness can also affect moldability of the part. It High-Temperature PlasticsCan They Really Take the Heat? is a common misunderstanding that ribs act as flow leadWhy You Must Consider Continuous Heat and Atmosphere How to Manage Stress ers and help balance flow in a complex part, comments Avoid Molding Pitfalls Kirit C. Desai, CAE manager at Solvay Advanced Poly[ w w w. d e s i g n n e w s . c o m ] 1 0 . 1 0 . 0 5 D E S I G N N E W S 23

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mers. As stated, ribs should be thinner than the intersecting wall. By definition, a flow leader is a local increase in thickness to improve flow in a required direction. Therefore, most of the time, ribs with thickness less than base wall thickness do not enhance the flow, continues Desai. In the majority of cases, it winds up acting as a stiffener rather than the intended flow leader. One thought: If this is a gas-assist application, location of gas channels at the base of thick ribs can avoid problems associated with excessive shrinkage, such as sink marks or warpage. Additionally, very thin ribs-particularly those located close to a gate-can create filling problems. Melt flow entering a thin rib can slow down and begin to freeze off while thicker wall sections are still filling. Thickness of the rib (or any type of plate) also affects shrinkage, and as a result the tendency to warp.
Consider Rib Height

When to Consider Ribs

Design engineers can consider two approaches when designing a wall section to provide a given amount of stiffness. They can make a thick wall section or use ribs. In the cross section shown in the top illustration, the wall thickness is 0.5 inches to provide the required moment of inertia. That provides the necessary stiffness, but will adversely affect part quality due to limitations in the molding process. Cooling times will be extended, creating longer processing times and poor injection molding economics. What do you do? Add a rib. A rib allows a design that is six times stiffer with a wall thickness of 0.35 inches. There is no increase in the amount or resin used: the total area for both cross sections is the same. If the opposite wall is cosmetic, you may need to reduce wall thickness even further to avoid development of sink marks opposite the rib. The third illustration shows how wall thickness can be decreased to 0.25 inches with the addition of another rib. The total area remains the same, while stiffness increases. The potential for sink marks is reduced because the wall and ribs are thinner. Take care that rib height does not exceed four to five times the wall thickness.

FORCE

1.0"

I = 0.01
0.5"

A = 0.5 in2

FORCE

1.0" 0.35"

I = 0.06 A = 0.5 in2

1.0"

Tall ribs are a good idea, but height should generally be no more than four to five times the thickness of the adjoining wall. Ribs that are too tall can create mold filling and venting problems. One option is to design multiple, smaller ribs that can provide the same level of stiffness. Its always easier to add ribs to a design than to remove them. Incorporate a minimum number of ribs in your original design, then add them as testing dictates. Another design consideration is radii for the internal corners of ribs. Corners with small or no radii are a major cause of failure under load because they concentrate stress. Its important to calculate the stress concentration created by an internal corner. Use handbooks on strengths of materials to obtain formulae that estimate the stress concentration factor for different geometries. Rule of thumb: Choose an internal corner radius equal to or greater than one-half of the thickness of the part, or at least 0.6 mm. This rule applies to all internal radii, including those for ribs.

0.15"

FORCE

1.0" 0.25"

I = 0.07
1.0"

A = 0.5 in2

0.125"

0.125"

I = Moment of Inertia A = Area

These drawings are shown with sharp corners and no draft for illustration purposes. In actual design, follow guidelines for proper radii and draft angle.

To access The Design Engineers Portal for High-Performance Plastics, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4398-502.

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