Design is a wonderful and creative job. And mold design is a design subject that requires a lot of knowledge. You must know how to calculate applied mechanics, you must know about processing methods, you must understand the properties of each type of plastic. You must be familiar with drawings, technical standards… and most of all, you must really understand a design software to create perfect molds.
Which design software to choose for mold design?
I came from a design environment, so I have learned about many different types of software. I also want to advise you that. Universities often do not teach what is needed for practical work. But student life gives you a lot of free time and an unlimited ability to explore. So spend that time learning and getting familiar with the design software that you know and want to know.
3D, 2D design software today mainly includes CAD, INVENTOR, SOLIDWORKS, CATIA, Creo, NX … Each software has outstanding advantages compared to other software. And when you go to work, each company also uses different types of software. Personally, I recommend you to use Solidworks software.
Why should you use Solidworks software to design plastic injection molds?
Solidwork is a 2D, 3D design software familiar to designers. The famous software of Dassault system has been widely used around the world. The following are outstanding advantages that make you want to install this software on your computer immediately.
Computer system:
As a 3D drawing software, Solidworks does not require too much computer hardware. This is an advantage that is very popular with students and low-income people. I am currently using Solidworks 2013. This version requires a fairly modest configuration:
- OS: Windows 8 RTM, Windows 7 x86 x64, Windows Vista x86 x64
- CPU: Intel Pentium IV or higher or AMD (the higher the better)
- Ram: Minimum 2GB
- Graphics card: should use a separate card such as ATI, Nividia
- Hard drive: For the installation folder and library data storage, it needs 7GB or more.
With this configuration, you only need to spend no more than 10 million to have a good machine to play Solidworks.
– Intuitive interface:
This graphic design software has a fairly intuitive interface. It helps designers easily get acquainted right from the first operations. Basic commands such as extruded boss/base (block creation command), extruded cut (block cutting command) … look very familiar with easily recognizable icons. If you already have a 3d Cad platform, getting familiar with solidworks is not difficult at all.
– Fast processing:
This depends on your computer configuration. But if compared with competitors of the same age such as Inventor 2012-2015, in my opinion, solidworks 2013 is faster and smother.
– Optimized for mold design:
This is the purpose of this article. My company only uses the only 3D design software, Solidworks, to design molds without any other supporting software. I have designed hundreds of different molds with only Solidworks 2013. This software can read most 3D files. So don’t worry when customers send us 3D models with the extension .igs, .step… With solidworks, dividing the mold core, separating the mold, assembling and simulating the mold is no longer a difficult problem for you. Even if you know how to do it correctly and have experience in handling it. You can make many different molds with just a few small changes from another mold.
Common errors when using solidword.
No matter how good a product is, it cannot avoid limitations. The version of Solidworks I am using often has some errors and lacks some tools related to calculation and simulation in the simulation environment. However, for my current mold design field, I have found a way to fix it. I will dedicate a larger article to write about these errors and how to fix them if this article receives a lot of support from you guys.
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