Cooling time is the amount of time it takes for the molten plastic to solidify. Cooling time is a significant portion of the total cycle time for injection molding and can account for up to 85% of the entire cycle. Cooling time can be estimated based on material properties, process parameters, and part specification. Injection molding cooling time is largely affected by thickness of the part and effective thermal diffusivity.
Proper cooling time does not mean the part will be cool to the touch or come out at room temperature, just that it is cooled to a point where the part will retain its shape and safely be ejected. Cooling time beyond this point will unreasonably increase cycle time resulting in inefficiency.
If not enough time is given for cooling it will result in defective parts that must be rejected. They may not hold their shape and get damaged by ejection. Warping, shrinkage, sink, and other part defects may occur if there is improper cooling time.
We have provided an injection molding cooling time calculator for a variety of shapes.
Plate: 3d Rectangle, square or rectangular prism
Cylinder: cylinderical shape where the length of the cylinder is much longer than the diameter
Short Cylinder: cylinderical shape with a short length that is close or less than the diameter
You can select a material type from our drop down, and the material properties will be automatically filled out.Or you can input custom material properties based on your needs
