Residual stresses in gas-assisted injection molding

Abstract

Residual stresses are a major issue in the mechanical and optical behavior of injection-molded parts. In this study, we analyze their development in the case of gas-assisted injection molding (GAIM) of amorphous polymers. Flow-induced residual stresses are computed within a decoupled approach, in which elastic effects are neglected in the momentum balance, assuming a generalized Newtonian material behavior. In a staggered procedure, the computed viscous flow kinematics are used to calculate normal stresses employing a compressible version of the Rolie-Poly model. For the computation of thermally and pressure-induced residual stresses, a linear thermo-viscoelastic model is used. A 3-D finite element model for GAIM is employed, which is able to capture the kinematics of the flow front and whose capabilities to predict the thickness of the residual material layer have been validated by Haagh and Van de Vosse (Int J Numer Methods Fluids 28:1355–1369, 1998). In order to establish a clear comparison, the development of residual stresses is analyzed using standard injection molding and GAIM for a test geometry.