Problem

Have you needed to specify an injection location at a specific XY location in SOLIDWORKS Plastics, but weren’t sure how? Or have you created multiple Plastics studies and needed to add injection locations multiple times? Have you found it difficult to add these injection locations in the same place every time? Sketch points are one option that was added starting in 2020, but there is also the split line tool.

Solution

When you mesh a part in SOLIDWORKS Plastics, you break up the geometry into elements; at the corners of each of these elements are nodes. When you select an injection location, you’re picking a node to designate as the injection location. In order to force SOLIDWORKS Plastics to put a node where you want, we can use split lines to specify where we want it, in addition to sketch points. In the example below, we have created a sketch consisting of a circle and two perpendicular lines to mark the location.

From this sketch, we can create a split line feature on the face where the plastic will start flowing. The idea behind the two perpendicular lines is that the intersection creates a selectable vertex, which makes selecting the exact injection location easy.

Even if you model the sprue and runner(s) in the part file like the example below, you will still need to specify an injection location on the sprue’s end face, which can be made easier using split lines.

Note: When meshing a part with a shell mesh, using the above method is critical because only a vertex (node) is allowed for the injection location. When meshing a part with a solid mesh, it isn’t as crucial because it allows selecting a face or vertex for the injection location. We still recommend the split line method, though if you want to specify faces for your injection location, add split lines that represent the gate location and then select the appropriate split faces.

For additional support, existing customers can submit a ticket or new customers can contact Hawk Ridge Systems.