Hi:
We have a small plastic part that was just tooled and it has small locking snaps on it. The original call-out was for ABS, but I'm not too happy with the results. The snaps tend to stay "sprung out" slightly after the parts are snapped together. I am thinking about trying a different material than ABS that would hopefully respond better to the bending and return to the molded shape.
What about Nylon/6 or 6/6 or Polycarbonate? This is a small part, and the dimensions of the snap barbs are posts about 30x60 mils, about 150mil long. They are deflected (bent) about 50mil out when they are engaged.
I guess a resin with better memory or flexure strength than ABS would be what I'm after. I think the ABS is stressed too far and not returning to the molded shape after being deflected.
Any advice from you molding gurus out there?
Thanks, Chris.