Hi Biswanath,

The gate size depends primarily on three key factors:

1. Wall Thickness at Gate Location:
   The gate depth should ideally be 75–80% of the wall thickness of the face where the gate is placed. Exceeding this ratio may lead to poor gate sealing and flow imbalance.

2. Shear Rate of the Plastic Material:
   Since PEEK is a high-temperature engineering polymer, excessive shear can cause material degradation or burn marks due to shear heating.

   • Maximum allowable shear rate at gate: 30,000 s⁻¹

   • Recommended range: 10,000–20,000 s⁻¹
     To maintain this range, use a larger gate size and optimize the injection speed to control shear rate effectively.

3. Gate Freeze Time:
   While increasing gate size helps reduce shear, it should not result in an excessively long gate freeze time. Ensure the gate freeze time is shorter than the End of Packing (EOP) so that adequate packing can occur before the gate freezes.

In summary:

• Keep gate depth ≤ 75–80% of wall thickness.

• Maintain shear rate within 10,000–20,000 s⁻¹.

• Ensure gate freeze time < EOP, with proper packing completed before gate freeze.

All these parameters can be easily monitored and validated using Moldex3D Fill and Pack results.

I hope this clarifies your query. Thank you for reaching out to us through the forum.

Best regards,
Abhishek Tiwari
Regional Manager – North & West India | Moldex3D