Modelling and experimental verification of pressure prediction in the in-mould coating (IMC) process for injection moulded parts

Abstract

In-mould coating (IMC) is carried out by injecting a liquid low viscosity thermosetting material onto the surface of the injection moulded part after it has solidified, while it is still in the mould. The coating then cures and adheres to the substrate. Due to its successful application to exterior body panels made from compression moulded sheet moulding compound, IMC is being developed as an environmentally friendly technology that would ultimately replace painting of injection moulded thermoplastic parts. In the short term, however, we believe IMC has the potential of being a substitute for primers. In a previous paper, we presented a Hele–Shaw based mathematical model to simulate the coating flow during the IMC process assuming the coating to be a power law fluid and using the traditional no-slip boundary condition. This model adequately predicted the fill patterns but did not predict pressures correctly. This deviation has been attributed to slip (or apparent slip) at the wall, as often found in flow through microchannels, due to the microscopic length scale of the flow, and the existence of a high shear rate Newtonian plateau for the coating viscosity. In this paper we present a mathematical model that includes the slip boundary condition and the Carreau viscosity model to properly describe the rheological behaviour of the coating material at high shear rates. The rheological and slip parameters of the coating material were measured using a customized micro slit rheometer. The predicted pressures are compared with experimental results obtained using our IMC pilot facility. It was found that the predicted pressures and coating thickness agree well with the measured values.