← All case studies

Study 01 / Tooling & mold flow

Drone middle housing tooling review

A thin-walled drone housing needs stiffness and a workable mold layout. The review traces the tooling split and gate layout through filling, shrinkage and predicted deflection.

Owen Wen · Past engineering project · Anonymized

Transparent drone assembly with the middle housing highlighted

Project overview22 drawings

Drawing index

Would the thin walls fill evenly?

The simulation supported a six-point gate layout. It predicted stable filling and acceptable warpage. The review recommended local geometry changes and a mold-release check before finalizing the tool.

See drawings Six-point gate and runner layout · Fill progression in four stages

Drawing series 01

Middle housing design brief

Drone — Lightweight housing design priorities — Lightweight housing design priorities

Drawing series 02

Design for manufacture and assembly

Drone — Housing surface analysis — Housing surface analysis

Drone — Frame wall transitions — Frame wall transitions

Drone — Interior housing features — Interior housing features

Drone — End wall tooling detail — End wall tooling detail

Drone — Housing side features — Housing side features

Drone — Cavity-side slider directions — Cavity-side slider directions

Drone — Core-side slider directions — Core-side slider directions

Drone — Undercuts in the housing — Undercuts in the housing

Drawing series 03

Injection molding simulation

Drone — Six-point gate and runner layout — Six-point gate and runner layout

Drone — PC and ABS blend material data — PC and ABS blend material data

Drone — Injection molding machine settings — Injection molding machine settings

Drone — Fill progression in four stages — Fill progression in four stages

Drone — Animated mold filling sequence — Animated mold filling sequence

Drone — Pressure at velocity-to-pressure switchover — Pressure at velocity-to-pressure switchover

Drone — Temperature at the flow front — Temperature at the flow front

Drone — Flow-front temperature at weld lines — Flow-front temperature at weld lines

Drone — Volumetric shrinkage and predicted sink marks — Volumetric shrinkage and predicted sink marks

Drone — Predicted air traps — Predicted air traps

Drone — Housing displacement map — Housing displacement map

Drone — Deflection by axis — Deflection by axis

Drone — Tooling conclusions and recommendations — Tooling conclusions and recommendations