Industrial Engineer Needed: Sense Check Design and Material Choices for a Injection-Moulded Pet Toy (TPE/Silicone/NR) to Survive ~3+ Months Chewing – Material + Tooling Advice.
Hello. I am looking for an industrial engineer to give unbiased advice regarding choice of material for an injection moulded chewable pet toy. The product needs to be flexible with strong puncture resistance.
I am torn between the following choices: silicone, natural rubber and TPE
Ideally I wanted NR but cost per unit is putting me off (coming off the tool as £2 and over) and was told if I choose the wrong shore hardness the tool couldn't be used on a different rubber with a higher shore hardness due to the way NR cures. Plus not many people who like working with it in the UK.
Silicone was the next choice but its puncture resistance seems lower and so far with my prototypes don't look like they stand the test of time very well - still in testing though. Plus less people who working with it in the UK compared to plastic.
TPE keeps coming up as perhaps a good medium but I have not had much exposure to it plus liked the idea of being non plastic reliant due to ingestion risk and environmental factors.
I have in progress silicone and latex rubber prototypes to test out but I am unable to find if you can create TPE prototypes at home (liquid pourable TPE) - I found one liquid TPE replica (PT Flex Liquid Rubbers) but it was sold out.
Anyway I have read online that I could perhaps use two materials, one tougher part to reduce puncturing and softer part moulded over the top however I have concerns this would rapidly increase costs.
I am a small start up business so can't just throw money at the tool and hope for the best as I really only have one shot. Looking for the option with affordable - medium price tooling and low cost per unit off the tool ideally. The part is small which helps <100g.
Looking for someone who has experience working with these materials and can give advice on longevity and puncture resistance for each material. Is there anyone that can give some advice on materials and their physical application / point me towards a suitable consultation services or freelancer?
I would be looking for a 60 minute chat. NDA signing will be required due to the part being complex so adviser would need to know the full product and its application.
I have spoke to various tooling companies to get rough quotes so know the making the tool itself is possible but each company is recommending their own material as the most suitable but from preliminary testing I am cautious of rushing into the tooling and having a finished product which doesn't last long enough due to nature of item.
I am knew to manufacturing so I hope this is okay question to ask, any tips would be amazing. Based in the UK. Thank you