In processes like Transition Molding, molten plastic material is compressed against a mold. As the molded part cools down and solidifies, it shrinks onto the mold, tightly gripping its surface. The shrink effect can make it difficult to eject the finished part from the mold without damage. Luckily, adding draft – a slight taper angle – to all vertical walls of the mold allows the finished parts to release effectively.

Molded microfeatures must have a draft angle of 5° for all vertical walls.

Bar scale showing 700 µm as 21.477% of the figure's width.

0 350 0.7 700 1.4

µm

mm

Drafts apply to the molded portion of vias. Molded microfeatures have dimensional limitations as well.