Introduction to

Injection Molding Flow Behavior Design Principles

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Injection Molding Machine

Nozzle between barrel and mold (not shown) Hopper Heater bands Clamping Unit

Hydraulic Unit

Barrel Mold cooling fed from external unit

Screw (Ram)

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Injection Molding Cycle

Mold Open Time Fill Time Cooling Time Hold Time

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Injection Molding Cycle

Cycle Time Fill Time Hold Time Cooling Time Mold Open Time
1 9 10 2 22 Sec.

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Injection Molding Process

Hopper

Filling
Mold closes, screw rapidly moves forward, frozen polymer skin forms at mold walls

Barrel

Screw Mold

Packing Time (Holding)

Cavity filled, packing begins, cooling occurring
Screw is applying a specified pressure to the polymer melt in order to pack more plastic into the cavity. Also called compensation stage.

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Injection Molding Process



Cooling
Packing complete, gate freezes off, cooling continues Screw moves back and begins plasticating resin for next shot

Mold Open
Cooling completes, mold opens

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The Injection Mold

a.k.a. Stationary Half

a.k.a. Moving Half

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Flow Behavior
What Does a Plastic Molecule Do in an Injection Mold?

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Phases of Molding

Filling Phase Pressurization Phase Compensation Phase

Filling, Volumetrically fill the cavity  Pressurization, Build up pressure in the cavity  Compensation, Add extra material to reduce


shrinkage
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Fountain Flow


Describes the phenomena of how plastics flows in a mold Material that first enters shows up at the surface near the gate Material that enters the cavity last, shows up in the center downstream Has direct influence on molecular and fiber orientation at the part surface

Melt

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Cross-Sectional Flow
Molecular Orientation

tensile force

tensile force
Low orientation High orientation

Shear rate
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min

max

Molecular Orientation is caused by shear flow. The high amount of shear is inside the frozen layer, therefore the highest orientation

Cross-Sectional
Heat Transfer
Hot Plastic Melt Plastic Flow Heat Input Frozen Layer High Shear Rate Cold Mold

Heat Loss into the Tool

Slower Injection Rate

VS.

Faster Injection Rate

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There should be a balance between heat input from shear and heat loss to the tool.

Injection Time / Frozen layer thickness

Faster injection times will produce a thinner frozen layer, and a thicker flow channel.

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Pressure-Volume-Temperature

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Shrinkage
Gate along edge Final Part Mold

Shrinkage in the direction of flow is usually much greater than across the flow for un-filled materials.

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Design Principles
Use Design Principles and Moldflow technology so you dont have to do this:

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Moldflow Design Philosophy



Number of gates
The number of gates used is based on the pressure to fill the cavity. In general, one selects the minimum number of gates to fill the cavity.

Position of gates
The position of the gate is determined by the flow balancing principle.

Flow pattern
The mold should fill with a straight fill pattern with no changes in direction during filling.

Runner Design
The runner system is designed to achieve the required filling pattern in the cavity.

Sequence of Analysis
The procedure of the mold design always starts with the cavity.

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Project Design Procedure Using Moldflow

       

Determine the design criteria for the project Use previous experience of analyst Discuss the project with all disciplines involved in the project Use Moldflow Design Principles Use Moldflow Design Rules with the software Interpret results and make changes where necessary Discuss changes with all disciplines involved in the project Repeat Moldflow analysis to ensure acceptable results
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Flow Concepts


    

Unidirectional and Controlled Flow Pattern Flow Balancing Constant Pressure Gradient Maximum Shear Stress Uniform Cooling Positioning Weld lines and Meld lines

  

Positioning Weld lines and Meld lines Avoid Hesitation Effects Avoid Underflow Balancing with Flow Leaders and Flow Deflectors Acceptable runner/cavity ratio

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Uni-Directions and Controlled Flow Pattern

The uni-directional flow principle says that the plastic should flow in one direction with a straight flow front throughout filling. This gives a unidirectional orientation pattern.

BAD!!, Orientation is
different Directions, flow marks, high stresses, & warping.

MUCH BETTER!!,
Orientation in one direction, Uniform, shrinkage, & stresses.

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Flow Balancing
The flow balancing principle says that all flow paths within a mold should be balanced, i.e. fill in equal time with equal pressure.


Naturally balanced runner system

Same distance and conditions between the nozzle and all the cavities All cavities filling at the same time pressure and temperature

Artificially balanced runner system

Sizes of the runners are different in order to deliver plastic melt to all cavities at the same pressure so that all the cavities fill at the same time

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Flow Balancing


Artificially balanced runners

Limitations
Very small parts Parts which contain very thin sections Parts where sink marks are important Where the ratio of runner lengths to be balanced is too great

Before

After

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Constant Pressure Gradient

The constant pressure gradient principle says that the most efficient filling pattern is when the pressure gradient, i.e. pressure per unit length, is constant along the flow path.

Pressure Spiking at end of Fill

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Maximum Shear Stress

The shear stress during filling should be less than a critical level. The value of this critical level depends on the material and application.

Material: ABS Stress Limit: 0.3 MPa

Stress plotted above the material limit

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Uniform Cooling
Hot Side Hot Side

Frozen and Shrunk

Tensile Stress

Cold Side

Cold Side

When plastic is in contact with the mold, and one side is cold and the other is hot, differential cooling takes place. This causes a bowing to the hot side, as the hot side has a longer time to cool and shrink.
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Uniform Cooling
Cavity Cold Core Hot Heat is concentrated in the corner of the core

HOT Corner (shrinks relative to frozen sections, causing warpage)

Part cross-section should cool evenly, cavity to core. If it does not in a corner, the corner will pull in to less than 90 degrees producing the typical bowed box warpage.
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Positioning Weld and Meld Lines

Position weld and meld lines in the least sensitive areas, if they cant be eliminated.

Weld Lines are formed when two flow fronts meet head on

Meld Lines are formed when two flow fronts meet and flow in the same direction

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Avoid Hesitation Effects

Gate

Position gates as far away as possible from where the flow divides into thick and thin flow paths to avoid hesitation effects.

Rib did not fill

Gate
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Avoid Hesitation Effects

GATES make poor flow control devices
HESITATION EFFECT Material freezes off in the gate closest to the sprue Low pressure drop in runners Middle cavity hesitating more than right cavity

TRADITIONAL APPROACH First gate opened 0.010 in thickness and width, from 0.030 to 0.040

Now first cavity filling much faster than other cavities

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Avoid Underflow
A change in flow direction between the time an area fills and the end of fill

Blue Velocity Angle arrows should be perpendicular to the multi color fill contour lines Good Not Good!
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Avoid Underflow

Weld Line moves inside frozen layer

Flow front
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FLOI4

Arrows show direction plastic moving at the instant of fill

Balancing with Flow Leaders and Flow Deflectors

Uniform Thickness Unbalanced Filling

Subtly increase (leader) or decrease (deflector) the wall thickness to influence the filling pattern to create a balanced fill within the part.

Balanced Thickness

Balanced Filling

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Acceptable Runner/Cavity Ratio

Design runner systems for high pressure drops, thus minimizing material in the runner, in order to give a low ratio of runner to cavity volume.
Volume of parts 192.0 cc Volume of feed system 13.4 cc Feed system 7.0% of part volume

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QUESTIONS?

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