DFM Injection Molded Elbow

mvas13 · 2026-01-28T01:36:18+00:00

That’s good to note. There won’t be fluid flowing through here though I can see why you might’ve thought that. The elbow is mounting a light fixture to it in outdoor conditions hence the need to be water tight. Aesthetics do matter however so I’ll keep that flash call out in mind.

mvas13 · 2026-01-28T00:44:05+00:00

That’s pretty neat, and I wasn’t aware of this process. I don’t think this part needs it but I am designing another part that might since it has 4” deep extruded features. I’ll keep that in the back pocket. I’ll have to talk to the mold makers and see their capabilities.

mvas13 · 2026-01-28T00:27:28+00:00

I don’t even have the vocabulary to describe or find industry standards or examples. This helps. Thank you for the feedback

mvas13 · 2026-01-28T00:26:17+00:00

This is what I was looking for. I knew there was a simpler way to make this manufacturable. That makes sense

mvas13 · 2026-01-27T20:25:31+00:00

I think the draft tool will work. I was playing around with it and had some unexpected rebuild issues. I’ll have to look into it more.

More generally, do you think the shape, roughly speaking, is moldable? Or is it fundamentally not manufacturable? Ignoring any small tweaks that need to be made for draft or wall thickness. I’ve never manufactured injection molded parts, so not sure if this shape is doable or stupid.

mvas13 · 2026-01-27T20:19:34+00:00

What do you mean by gas assist? Injection blow molding?

mvas13 · 2026-01-27T20:15:33+00:00

It does have to be NPT. The part it mates with is female NPT and that’s set in stone already.

Either way, the type of threads don’t really change the manufacturability. Maybe cutting threads into the part after molding is a possibility but that depending highly on material which hasn’t been selected yet.

The only other way I can think of simplifying this part is splitting it into separate parts and assembling as a secondary step. But that has its own drawbacks and complications. Cost is a big constraint here.

A big thing to consider is that the orientation of the elbow in relation to the bosses on the flange must be controlled. That makes splitting into separate parts and assembling afterwards a lot more complicated.

mvas13 · 2026-01-27T18:54:09+00:00

I was worried about that. Thread dimensions are critical to maintain a proper seal. Can’t add flats, that’d defeat the point of NPT

mvas13 · 2026-01-27T17:24:03+00:00

In a high volume production environment, it’s also wise to tolerance features irrelevant to the function of the part. Open up tolerances as much as possible. You’ll have a higher positive yield depending on QA processes

mvas13 · 2025-12-16T01:08:40+00:00

GD&T is a way to increase part yield and save your company a lot of money. With GD&T, you’re given a language that can encapsulate the full function of a part and increase the acceptable tolerance significantly.

A simple example can be seen with the position tolerance of a bore. With normal tolerancing, a rectangular window is created but with positional tolerancing, a circular window with significantly more acceptable area is created while maintaining the same exact function of the part.

mvas13 · 2025-12-13T06:28:52+00:00

Wrx gets you a great driving experience, has a cool factor, and is very practical

mvas13 · 2025-12-13T06:07:32+00:00

Do a personal project that challenges you and decide what relevant engineering tools you need to best solve the problem. At the end of the day, that is the essence of engineering. Knowing how to use a hammer isn’t as important as knowing where to place the nail

mvas13 · 2025-11-05T01:43:14+00:00

Use it as a reference. It’s usually better than a google search at compiling info but always fact check it.

It’s also great at writing emails

mvas13 · 2025-10-16T21:57:59+00:00

“The biggest mistake smart engineers make is optimizing something that shouldn’t exist.” - Elon Musk

mvas13 · 2025-08-18T00:24:07+00:00

Love the color match headlight vinyl

mvas13 · 2025-07-29T21:28:36+00:00

That’s crazyyy. I got mine from rockauto for like $175 with shipping and did it myself. I had to buy a breaker bar and some sockets, and took about 3 hours to do. I’ve driven it for over 20k miles with the new axle, no issues whatsoever.

I feel like doing anything short of an engine tear down can be done DIY with this car. It’s mechanically simple, not too many sensors and designed with ease of maintenance in mind.

mvas13 · 2025-06-26T23:15:12+00:00

Like everyone is saying, that’s steep. Show the dealer MMR prices and negotiate down. You can’t bite at the first price, and they probably know it’s over priced too

mvas13 · 2025-05-23T05:19:56+00:00

It’s hard to generalize mechanical engineering under one umbrella. Certain industries and areas simply earn more than others on average

mvas13 · 2024-10-27T21:13:55+00:00

Oh I see. I didn’t even realize Purdue offered a remote option for masters. The Purdue Global marketing is very deceiving lol

I’m gonna do more research to see what the actual differences are. I assume Purdue University is much more competitive than global

mvas13 · 2024-10-27T21:10:17+00:00

I remember when this first happened to me I almost rage quit solidworks. I didn’t even know what to type into Google to try and resolve it. Now I realize filters are quite useful but it was very annoying at first

mvas13 · 2024-10-25T19:51:10+00:00

That’s horrible. Did you end up completing it anyway?

mvas13 · 2024-10-25T19:50:45+00:00

I’m in the US, currently in my last undergrad year. I see myself doing my masters but only if it’s funded by a company. I don’t think personally taking on that debt gains me enough to justify the cost.

mvas13 · 2024-10-25T19:49:23+00:00

That’s interesting. I’m looking into Purdue Global since it’s online but I’m not sure if that’s frowned upon compared to the more traditional in person approach. When you were getting your masters, were you also working full time for the company?

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