SOLIDWORKS Plastics is injection moulding simulation software that helps users evaluate how molten plastic fills a mould cavity during manufacturing. It allows designers, engineers and mould makers to identify potential defects earlier, such as short shots, air traps, weld lines, sink marks, cooling issues and warpage risks.
Because SOLIDWORKS Plastics works inside the SOLIDWORKS environment, users can analyse plastic part behaviour while they are still developing the design. This helps teams make practical design and mould-related decisions before tooling costs, production delays or rework become more difficult to manage.
Highlights:
Plastic part design is not only about the shape of the part. Material flow, wall thickness, gate position, cooling behaviour and mould design can all affect whether a part can be manufactured successfully. SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps teams evaluate these factors earlier, so design and tooling decisions are based on simulation insight rather than guesswork.
SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps users identify potential manufacturing issues before the mould is made. By studying filling behaviour and flow conditions, teams can detect risks that may affect part quality, mould performance or production efficiency.
Key points:
Design choices such as wall thickness, ribs, bosses and gate location can affect how plastic flows and cools. SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps engineers review these design factors before production, making it easier to improve part quality and reduce avoidable design changes.
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Tooling changes can be expensive and time-consuming once a mould has been manufactured. SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps teams evaluate moulding behaviour earlier so potential issues can be corrected before they affect tooling, sampling or production schedules.
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SOLIDWORKS Plastics includes tools that help users understand how plastic flows, cools and behaves during the injection moulding process. These capabilities support better decisions around part design, mould design, material behaviour and production preparation.
Analyse how molten plastic fills the mould cavity and identify areas where flow restrictions, hesitations, short shots or trapped air may occur. This helps teams understand whether the part is likely to fill correctly under the selected design and process conditions.
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Review how gate placement affects plastic flow, pressure, weld lines and part quality. SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps users compare gate locations and understand where weld lines or visible flow-related defects may form.
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Study how cooling behaviour affects part quality and identify areas where sink marks may form. This helps teams evaluate design features such as ribs, bosses and thicker sections that can influence cooling time and surface quality.
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Evaluate how moulding conditions, material behaviour and part geometry may contribute to warpage. SOLIDWORKS Plastics helps users understand deformation risks and make design adjustments before manufacturing begins.
Key points:
SOLIDWORKS Plastics is useful for teams that design plastic parts, develop moulds, review manufacturability or prepare injection moulded products for production. It supports applications where mould filling, cooling, material behaviour and part quality affect the success of the final product.
Evaluate mouldability and part quality for plastic housings, covers, enclosures and product components.
Analyse injection moulding behaviour for functional plastic parts used in equipment, machinery and assemblies.
Assess gate locations, filling behaviour, cooling concerns and potential defect risks before mould manufacturing.
Review moulding behaviour for plastic components where weight, strength, fit and surface quality matter.
Evaluate plastic housings, internal features, bosses and ribs that can affect mouldability and part quality.
Ease of Use
Design Data Reuse
Materials Database
Meshing
Parallel Computing
Filling Phase
Instantaneous Fill Time Plot
Sink Mark Analysis
eDrawings Support
Fill Time
Ease of Fill
Results Adviser
Pressure at End of Fill
Flow Temperature at End of Fill
Shear Rate
Cooling Time
Weld Line
Air Traps
Sink Marks
Frozen Layer Fraction at End Fill
Clamp Force
Cycle Time
SOLIDWORKS Plastics Standard Functionality
Symmetry Analysis
Packing Phase (2nd Stage Injection)
Runner Balancing
Sprues and Runners
Hot and Cold Runners
Multi-Cavity Molds
Family Molds
Mold Inserts
Volumetric Shrinkage
Density at End of Pack
Exports STL, NASTRAN
Export with Mechanical Properties ABAQUS, ANSYS, DigiMat
SOLIDWORKS Plastics Standard Functionality
SOLIDWORKS Plastics Professional Functionality
Cooling Lines
Baffles and Bubblers
Conformal Cooling Channels
Runner Domain Category
Sink Mark Profiles
Mold Temperature at Cooling End
Displacement Due to Residual Stress
SOLIDWORKS Plastics is an injection moulding simulation tool that helps you predict manufacturing issues while you’re still designing.
It simulates how molten plastic flows during injection moulding, so problems can be identified early and mould rework can be reduced later.
SOLIDWORKS Plastics is used to check whether a part is likely to mould cleanly, whether it fills properly, and whether issues like cosmetic defects or dimensional distortion are likely – before tooling is manufactured.
It’s especially useful for complex parts, tight cosmetic requirements, or high-volume production where small issues become expensive fast.
The Cadmes package breakdown includes results and checks such as weld lines, air traps, and sink marks, along with process outputs like clamp force, cycle time, cooling time, and fill-related plots and pressures.
These insights help you understand what might go wrong and why – before production starts.
Cadmes offers three SOLIDWORKS Plastics packages:
Yes. Cadmes can recommend the right package based on the part complexity, mould approach (simple vs multi-cavity), runner system requirements, and whether cooling analysis needs to be included.
That makes it easier to choose between Standard, Professional, and Premium with confidence.
Yes. SOLIDWORKS Plastics is built around common injection moulding analysis stages such as Fill, Pack, Cool, and Warp.
The package level determines how deeply mould layout and cooling behaviour can be analysed.
A solid starting point is the CAD model, the intended material (or closest match), and basic process intent such as gate assumptions and what targets matter most (cycle time, appearance, warpage tolerance, and so on).
Cadmes can help align the study setup so the results reflect real-world manufacturing goals.
SOLIDWORKS publishes official minimum requirements (for example: x86_64 CPU, 16 GB RAM with 32 GB recommended, certified graphics/drivers, and SSD recommended). Actual performance depends on study size and complexity – bigger parts and more detailed studies typically need stronger hardware than the minimum.
Yes. The SOLIDWORKS Plastics page recommends training such as SOLIDWORKS Essentials and SOLIDWORKS Mold Design, which helps teams strengthen core modelling skills and mould-specific workflows that support Plastics studies.
Use the Request a Quote form on the SOLIDWORKS Plastics page and select whether you’re interested in Standard, Professional, or Premium.
SOLIDWORKS Plastics gives teams the tools to analyse injection moulding behaviour, identify manufacturability risks and make better decisions before tooling or production. Cadmes can help you choose the right licence, request pricing and implement the software in a way that supports your workflow.
