ROTATIONAL MOLDING

PROCESS FROM CONCEPT TO PRODUCTION

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding

Rotational Molding or “Rotomolding” is used to make hollow parts of complex

shapes. Assuming you had a decent childhood, you’re already familiar with many of
the kinds of products that can be created using this method: Chocolate bunnies,
playground equipment, action figures…

Rotomolding mainly deals with materials that are solid at room temperature, but turn liquid with a moderate
degree of heat – not high enough for liquid metals though (mercury and Cyberdyne Systems Model T-1000
notably excepted). We’re going to assume you’re not in the candy business
and instead focus on plastics in this article. Safe assumption since this IS an ar-
ticle about part manufacturing. Either way, we’ll give you enough detail here to
be able to engage with your manufacturer and chat it up at this year’s Rotoplas
Expo. Maybe just don’t hang around if you see this guy running security…

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding

HOW IS IT MADE?

To begin, a two or more part mold is assembled together with a specific amount
of powdered plastic resin inside. It’s then heated and, wait for it… rotated
around in different directions. Centrifugal force (the same force that plasters
you to the edge of whichever Tilt-A-Hurl ride your kids make you go on) ensures
the plastic evenly coats the whole interior surface before it fuses together.

After enough heat, time and movement, the mold is cooled from the outside
to solidify the plastic shell on the inner surface. The mold is then split apart
to extract the newly made hollow plastic part before repeating the process
to make more of the same.

These new hollow parts can be subsequently cut, drilled, or otherwise machined to remove material or split it
into multiple pieces as needed.

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding
WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

CONCEPT DESIGN ENGINEERING PROTOTYPE PRODUCTION

Concept
In general if a part in mind is a hollow plastic part, it’s likely a good candidate to utilize rotomolding. The process works
great for complex shapes that hold liquids such as gas cans and water barrels, or for playground equipment where soft
curves and double-walled forms both protect and structurally support children at play.

Design
To help determine if it is, Industrial Designers first conceive the part with 2D or 3D sketches. While this serves
as the communicative bridge between the design engineers and future consumers for aesthetics, it also high-
lights what is physically possible. In the world of manufacturing, compromises are unavoidable and many a
beautiful concept has been dashed upon the cold ground of reality. For example, with rotomolding it is possi-
ble to make a part that locks the mold tool together and cannot be opened without destroying the part. Un-
dercuts and undrafted surfaces must be avoided in the design. We’re not talking about the undercuts from
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out here. The illustration below shows the slightly tamer but no less impactful type rele-
vant to rotomolding.

If a mold were ever made with an internal undercut as shown, a good

part would never be produced. The plastic part would be locked onto
the tool and have to be destroyed to remove it. Cautiously, it can be
stated that some minor external undercuts can be tolerated. The part
would have to flex to be pulled from the mold tooling.

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding

Additionally, small and tight features should be avoided as well as these can tend to either (1) not fill with plas-
tic powder and become open voids, or (2) fully fill with plastic forming a solid instead of hollow feature. This
latter case could also cause that local area to warp during cooling. If the part being designed absolutely re-
quires these features, then rotomolding is not a suitable manufacturing process. The industrial design phase
goes a long way in highlighting features that could be problematic later on.

Engineering
Development Engineers will create a CAD model from the concept sketches. In this 3D model, they will identify
the parting lines. These are where two or more segments of a mold tool will meet together. Parting lines are
important in that they establish tool complexity and how undercuts and draft angles are evaluated. There will
also be a small blemish line visible on the outer surface of the final plastic
parts where the parting lines trace the surface. If aesthetics is important,
care must be taken to account for this in the design so that the parting
line can be hidden in the part’s features. While the blemish can be
trimmed and minimized, it will still be there.

Design Engineers also need to determine the specific material to be

used in this stage. The material’s strength properties drive require-
ments for its shape (how much support is needed in different places), while the thermal characteristics deter-
mine its size (how the material behaves when heated). You see, things expand when heated and contract
when cooled. Since the shape of the part is determined when the plastic is so hot that it’s liquefied, it will nat-
urally be smaller when it turns solid and cools. Design Engineers very specifically account for this factor (called
“shrink”) when developing a new part.

Beyond those already covered, it’s worth mentioning a few other geometric features that are problematic for
rotomolding and need to be avoided or mitigated in the design. These include unsupported large flat surfaces,
narrow wall gaps and sharp corners. Continuing with thermal expansion in mind, we’ll consider large flats first.
The intention is for perfect even distribution of plastic material while molding followed by perfect even cooling
to set the shape. Reality however, falls short of perfect – imagine that. Uneven material distribution and cool-
ing causes the material to warp slightly. Overall, wide tolerances must be allowed for such features, but de-
signers can crown the surface, or add ribs or kiss-offs to support the wall.

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding

Narrow wall gaps can tend to become filled solid with plastic material – usually not what we want. With kiss-
offs, this structure is used as an advantage to essentially connect two opposing surfaces together at a point to
add structural support. Think of two orange construction cones with the point of one balanced upside-down
on the point of another.

Kiss-offs are not what you did in high school behind the gym.
They’re really the intentional localized creation of a narrow
wall gap to bridge two surfaces together. So, not as sexy
…unless you’re an engineer.

Apart from intentional kiss-offs, narrow wall gaps must be avoided in rotomolding. This would be anything less
than 5x wall thickness in separation. If tool surfaces get too close together, the plastic will tend to bridge be-
tween the two surfaces. It’s uncontrolled when and how this happens though, so the result could either be a
solid-filled feature, or a short-filled part. The latter could happen if the plastic bridges between tool surfaces
and actually blocks material from flowing past that area to the rest of the tool surface like a dam. In fact, it’ll
look like an angry beaver took a bite out of the part.

Sharp corners are a no-no too as they will cause uneven distribution of plastic. In the case of interior sharp cor-
ners, the plastic will tend to be very thin and is prone to breakage afterward. This happens because of surface
tension. Take a butter knife and drop some water on the wide surface. You’ll see droplets form and hold fast
there. Tilt it and try to get a droplet to hold on the narrow edge, or even touch the edge – not gonna happen.
You will lose, and physics will laugh. This is what a sharp internal corner looks like to the liquefied plastic on
the inside of a mold.

Thin is bad. Thin will be weak and possibly break.

Thick is not as bad, but will be heavier and may cool

unevenly and warp.

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding

Now, sharp exterior corners can be problematic as well, but in the opposite way. Think of exterior corners as a
less-severe version of a narrow gap which we talked about earlier. The plastic is going to tend to collect heavily
here and the resulting part is going to have very thick walls in these areas. While it could improve strength, it
could also cause uneven warpage when the part cools. “Warpage” is fun to say. Not so fun to deal with.

HOW IS IT BUILT?

Prototyping
One benefit of this process is that tooling is inexpensive relative to other types of molding. Since this is a low-
pressure process, the tools just need to set the shape of the part and don’t require much in the manner of
strength. Aluminum is commonly used for rotomolding tooling, though large simple parts can even incorporate
steel sheet metal weldments. One drawback though is that a part well-suited for rotomolding (large and hol-
low with complex geometry) lacks a more economical option for prototyping.

PROTOTYPE
With rotomolding, even prototypes require tooling. Since the sample parts use
the same process as mass produced rotomolded parts, the sample is a great rep-
resentation, but tooling investment IS required at this stage.

Manufacturing
With the amount of tolerance needed for the beginning of the process, a bit of fine-tuning is unavoidable at the
end. Much of it will be calculation: What is the surface area of the finished part? The desired wall thickness?
But calculation will take you only so far. There will always be uneven material that has accumulated because of
the process. This is where experience and experimentation are required. Perhaps achieving the thickness re-
quired in large flat areas may mean that small convex features are a bit thicker. Perhaps the weight of the
product will increase because of that. The features of the part will accumulate material somewhat unevenly no
matter the design and process. A good experienced manufacturer will be able to achieve a stable set of param-
eters quickly and maintain consistent part quality throughout years of production

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Process Explainer
Rotational Molding
THE BOTTOM LINE.
Example Development Costs and Timing
For general comparisons between processes, here are conservative estimates of project costs and timeframes for full
start-to-finish development of example parts. Projects with multiple components can see significant efficiencies com-
paratively on a “per component” basis.

Example A Example B

Cosmetic chain guard with Reusable plastic pallet meas-

threaded inserts for commer- uring standard 48” x 40”.
cial outdoor equipment.

$23,000 $77,000
(17-19 weeks) (28-31 weeks)

Development Development
Testing Testing
Tooling Tooling
(100) Parts (100) Parts

Disclaimer: A wide variety of factors can affect both the timing and cost of any individual product development project. The above
illustrations contain a great many assumptions that may only be as accurate to your given project as your cable company's service
time window. This information should only be used for general information and contrasting similar processes; it is not a quote. Our
lawyers even suggested a huge warning saying this is "for entertainment purposes only“. The thing is, at CDN, product development
is what we do. We love guiding our clients through bringing their ideas to life. Just give us a call and we’ll talk about your project.

MIDWEST—West Bend, WI SOUTHEAST—Atlanta, GA

sales@cdn-inc.com
262-334-8036 262-247-2536
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Creative Design Network, Inc. (CDN) is a product design and develop-
ment firm with offices in the Midwest and Southeast, specializing in in-
dustrial design, engineering, prototyping, and contract manufacturing.
For over 30 years, CDN has been playing a vital role in supporting the
plans of engineering teams engaged in the product design and develop-
ment of consumer, commercial and healthcare products.

Our talented team of designers, engineers, and model builders is very

passionate about product design and they bring a mix of creativity, ex-
perience and art to every product they develop. We work very closely
with our customers on a personal level and share the same goals for
the success of their products.

We take our work very seriously, but in a casual, fun environment that
results in a culture of innovation and creative ideas.

www.cdn-inc.com
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262-334-8036 262-247-2536