DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005

All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
1
Snap fit theory
A snap-fit is an effective method to design the fastening system into the product design itself. A snap-fit can
be designed to allow parts to be either permanently fastened (or pre-determined to be broken off) or for
frequent assembly and disassembly.

In combination with O-rings or proper seals, even gas and fluid tight connections can be made.

Designing a snap-fit is rather complex due to a combination of factors:

- the functional requirements of the product
- the assembly requirements
- the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic
- the design of the mold and notably part ejection.

Snap-fits can be found in a wide variety of shapes. Three examples of typical snap-fit geometries are the
cantilever beam type, the cylindrical type and the spherical type.


Snap-fit cantilever beam type
a b



Snap-fit cylindrical type
a b

DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005



All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
2
Snap-fit spherical type



Theory

The force-deflection diagram

In the general case, both parts will be deformed during assembling, as shown in the figure below. Part 1 is
bent downwards over a distance y
1
, part 2 is bent upwards over a distance y
2
and a deflection force F
b
acts
between the two mating parts.

Both parts are deformed



A force-deflection diagram as shown in the figure on next page can be a useful aid for the engineer to
determine how the total deflection will be distributed over the two parts.
DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005



All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
3
Force-deflection diagram



The undercut h of the snap-fit determines the total deformation y
1
+ y
2
in this diagram and the spring
characteristic (stiffness) of both parts determines the deflection force F
b
.

Secant modulus

The spring characteristic of the parts must be calculated from the part dimensions and the material stiffness E.
Young's modulus E
0
may be used as long as the strains remain in the proportionality range of the stress-strain
curve, but for larger strains the secant modulus E
s
should be used. The figure on page 4 shows the definition
of E
s
.
















DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005



All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
4

The definition of the secant modulus E
s



The strain will vary from place to place, so that the calculation should in fact be done using several secant
moduli. This is not feasible for a hand calculation, in that case the engineer will normally use an average
secant modulus. One of the advantages of a finite element calculation is that the complete stress-strain curve
of a material can be used as input, with the computer determining the strain and modulus for every point of
the construction.


Maximum allowable short-term strain during assembling

If a snap-fit fails during assembly, the maximum deflection of the cantilever beam most likely exceeded the
deflection limit of the thermoplastic used. The maximum strain that occurs during assembling can be
calculated for both parts if the force-deflection diagram on page 3 is known.
Since the snap-fit is only a small part of a product, it is better to design snap-fit dimensions based on a
thermoplastic chosen than to choose the thermoplastic to make a specific snap-fit work.

Creep and stress relaxation

Internal loads in the snap-fit connection after assembly should be avoided if possible, due to possible creep
and stress relaxation. A graph with isochronous stress-strain curves gives information about the creep and
stress relaxation that will take place, as shown in the figure on page 5.




DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005



All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
5

Creep and stress relaxation



The isochronous stress-strain curves can be found in the DSM material database. Select a material grade first
by clicking on the grade name, then click on "PROPERTIES" and "Fct" (functions). If the desired curves are
not available for a material grade, the curves of a comparable grade can be used. Click here to go to the
material database.

If a certain pre-stress cannot be avoided, as the connection has to resist an external load, this pre-stress
should be minimized. The designer should be aware that both the possibility of breakage and the required
force to (dis)assemble can be dealt with independently. In most cases the number of snap-fits can be
changed.


Stress concentrations

A common factor causing failure of a snap-fit is the inside radius r (see figure on page 2) in transitions or lack
thereof. An inside radius which is too small will induce stress-concentrations. These sections with high
stresses are often weak because the strain limit is reached sooner. A radius r = 0.5 mm is satisfactory in most
cases.

Coefficient of friction

The mating force F
a
required to assemble and the separation force F
d
required to disassemble the snap-fit are
determined by several parameters. One of them is the coefficient of friction , which characterises the friction
forces which must be overcome.
For information about this coefficient please click here.
DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005



All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
6


Poissons ratio

Poissons ratio must be known to calculate the surface pressure and the stresses in a cylindrical snap-fit. Click
here for information about this ratio.


Lead angle and return angle

The lead angle
1
and the return angle
2
determine the required mating force respectively the required
separation force, besides the dimensions of the snap-fit, the material stiffness and the friction coefficient.
The lead angle
1
is normally between 15 and 30.
The return angle
2
determines the maximum load that the snap-fit can take up. The maximum load bearing
capacity is reached for a return angle of 90. The return angle determines if the connection will be separable
or inseparable.

Separable and inseparable joints

2
+ < 90: separable joint

2
+ > 90: inseparable joint

= tan = coefficient of friction



DSM Engineering Plastics Technical Guide

Date:23 February, 2005



All information supplied by or on behalf of DSM in relation to its products, whether in the nature of data, recommendations or otherwise, is supported by research and, in good faith, believed reliable, but DSM assumes no
liability and makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty arising from a course of
dealing, usage, or trade practice whatsoever in respect of application, processing or use made of the aforementioned information or product. The user assumes all responsibility for the use of all information provided and
shall verify quality and other properties or any consequence from the use of all such information.
7
Mating force and separation force

The mating force F
a
required to assemble can be calculated with the following formula.



+ tan
1
F
a
= F
b
. -----------------
1 . tan
1

where

F
b
= deflection force
= coefficient of friction

1
= lead angle

The same formula is used for the separation force F
d
required to disassemble, but then with the return angle

2
instead of
1
.
F
b
can be calculated as explained in the bulletin on design of snap fits.