Selecting the material

In this task, you will select a molding material.

You can select a material based on:

• Supplier name.
• Trade name.
• Family of polymer.
• Filler material requirements.
• Comparison of similar material properties.

1. Ensure the model from the previous task is open.

   Note that in the Study Tasks pane beside Material, the material 620-31 : A Schulman GMBH is selected. This part has a specified material that is to be used for analysis, Tenite LDPE 1870 from Eastman Chemical Products .

2. Click (Home tab > Molding Process Setup panel > Select Material) to open the Select Material dialog.
3. Click the Manufacturer drop-down list.
4. Scroll through the list until you find Eastman Chemical Products .
5. In the Trade name drop-down box select the material, Tenite LDPE 1870.
6. Click Details and the material properties are displayed.
7. Click the Recommended Processing tab and notice that the recommended mold surface temperature is 40° Celsius and the Melt temperature is 220° Celsius.
8. Click OK twice. The selected material is displayed in the Study Tasks pane.
9. Click (Home tab > Molding Process Setup panel > Process Settings) and note how the recommended process settings for the selected material are now listed in the Process Settings Wizard-Fill Settings dialog.
10. Click Cancel to remove the dialog.
11. Click (Home tab > Molding Process Setup panel > Select Material) to open the Select Material dialog.
12. Click the Search button to open the Search Criteria dialog.
13. In the Search Fields pane, select Family abbreviation and type PC in the Substring text box.
14. Click Search. The Select Thermoplastics material dialog displays a list of materials.
15. Click Search to open the Search Criteria dialog again. Note how the previously defined search parameters are still specified.
16. In the Search Fields pane, select Filler data: Description and type glass in the Substring text box.
17. Click Search. The Select Thermoplastics material dialog displays an updated list of materials.
18. To refine the search further, click Search again.
19. In the Search Fields pane, select Filler data: Weight and type 20 in both the Minimum and Maximum text boxes.
20. Click Search. The Select Thermoplastics material dialog displays an updated list of materials. There are now about 50 materials to select from, some of which are blends.
21. Click the Family abbreviation column header. The list is now sorted alphabetically by abbreviation.
    Tip: You may have to scroll horizontally or adjust the size of the Select Thermoplastics material dialog to see all of the columns.
    Final selection can be made based on the properties of the individual materials.
22. From the list, click Panlite G-3420 QG0015X from Tenjin Chemicals to highlight it.
23. While holding down the Ctrl key, select Calibre 5201-8 from Dow Chemical USA . Both materials should be highlighted in the list.
24. Click the Compare button. The Material Test Method and Data Comparison Report dialog appears. The physical properties of the two materials can now be compared and the most suitable material selected.

    A molding problem might be solved by selecting a similar material with a different physical property, for example, melt mass-flow rate.

    Note: Material shrinkage data is summarized in tabular form. Select the material of interest from the Select Material dialog and then click Details to open the Thermoplastic Material dialog. Select the Shrinkage properties tab to view the complete shrinkage data for this material.
25. Click OK, highlight Calibre 5201-8 from Dow Chemical USA , click the Select button, and then click OK. The properties of this material will now be used when the model is analyzed.
26. Click (Home tab > Molding Process Setup panel > Process Settings) and note how the recommended process settings at the top of the Process Settings Wizard-Fill Settings dialog have changed.
27. Click Cancel to remove the dialog.
28. Right-click the material description in the Study Tasks pane, and choose Select Material... from the menu.
29. In the Select Material dialog, click Search...
30. From the Search Criteria dialog, click Add... The Add Search Fields dialog appears.

    This dialog lists the available material characteristics that you can use to search the database. As we are looking for material with optical data, we will search by refractive index.

31. Scroll down the list, select Refractive index for unoriented material and click Add. Refractive index now becomes a search option.
32. In the Filter pane, enter 1 in the Minimum text box and 5 in the Maximum text box.
33. Click Search and the available materials appear.
34. Select a material, click Details and select the Optical properties tab. Important properties such as Refractive index and Stress-Optical Coefficients are listed.
35. Click OK to close the Thermoplastic material dialog, then click Cancel twice to close the remaining dialogs without changing the selected material.

Click the Next topic link below to move on to the next task of the tutorial.