About Sliders
Slider components in Mold design are used to form undercuts in the final product. During mold opening and closing, sliders may move in from a side to create the necessary shape and facilitate ejecting the part.
The process of slider creation consists of the following steps:
1. The system performs geometry analysis, based on the given Pull Direction, to identify the black volumes. Black volumes are undercuts in the reference part, that is, areas that would generate trapped material during mold opening, unless a slider is created. They are defined as areas of the reference part where a light shining in the Pull Direction, and in the opposite direction, does not reach.
2. When the system identifies and displays all the black volumes, you select a volume or group of volumes to be included in a single slider.
3. You specify the projection plane. The system extends the selected black volumes up to the projection plane, in the direction normal to the plane. This is the final slider geometry.
You can create a slider as a Mold Volume and then extract it to create a Mold Component. Or you can create a slider as a feature of a mold base component, such as a cavity insert.
You can create sliders in Casting as well, using similar techniques.