Moldflow Software Research Articles

Analysis of the Similarity between Injection Molding Simulation and Experiment.

In the plastics industry, CFD simulation has been used for many years to support mold design. However, using simulation as a substitute for experimentation remains a major challenge to this day. This is due to the unknown congruence between simulation and experiment. The present work focuses on a comparison between simulation (generated with the software Moldflow Insight Ultimate from Autodesk Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA) and experiment by using molds of different complexity, where, in contrast to a large number of previous investigations, both the characteristics of the parts and the time series of the process parameters were compared with each other. For this purpose, the high-resolution time series of the process parameters injection pressure, flow rate, and cavity pressure as well as the mass and the dimensions of the manufactured parts were acquired during the experiments and the results were compared with the computations obtained from the simulation. In addition, potential causes like the material data, mesh and solver parameter, and the machine-specific behavior were analyzed to assess which of these causes may be decisive for a deviation between simulation and experiment.

Study on the influence of injection molding parameters on the warpage using simulation and Taguchi method

Injection moulding (IM) is a processing technique produced from polymeric products. Warpage defect (WD) is the defect that generally occurs during the IM process due to the inappropriate processing parameters of the melt temperature, mould surface temperature, packing pressure, injection pressure, and packing pressure time. This paper investigates the IM parameters that influence product warpage by combining the simulation, analysis of variance, signal-to-noise analysis, and Taguchi method. The simulation process was performed by Moldflow software. The product material is high-density polyethylene. The WD has been predicted and optimized to enhance product quality. Melt temperature and packing pressure time are the factors that acrimoniously influenced the warpage of the product. The results show that the packing pressure time and melt temperature have the highest effects on the WD by the contributions of 48.94% and 37.48%, respectively. The optimal IM parameters are scanned again with the WD abated at about 1.2%. The mathematical formula has been constructed to predict the WD with the reflection of acceptable values of 86.29%. The research hopes that the results have been applied to designing and fabricating the plastic product in the near future.

Study on Cavitation, Warpage Deformation, and Moisture Diffusion of Sop-8 Devices during Molding Process.

Plastic packaging has shown its advantages over ceramic packaging and metal packaging in lightweight, thin, and high-density electronic devices. In this paper, the reliability and moisture diffusion of Sop-8 (Small Out-Line Package-8) plastic packaging devices are studied, and we put forward a set of complete optimization methods. Firstly, we propose to improve the reliability of plastic packaging devices by reducing the amount of cavitation and warpage deformation. Structural and process factors were investigated in the injection molding process. An orthogonal experiment design was used to create 25 groups of simulation experiments, and Moldflow software was used to simulate the flow mode analysis. Then, the simulation results are subjected to range analysis and comprehensive weighted score analysis. Finally, different optimization methods are proposed according to different production conditions, and each optimization method can reduce cavitation or warpage by more than 9%. The moisture diffusion of the Sop-8 plastic packing devices was also investigated at the same time. It was determined that the contact surface between the lead frame and the plastic packaging material was more likely to exhibit delamination under the condition of MSL2 moisture diffusion because the humidity gradient was easily produced at the crucial points of different materials. The diffusion of moisture is related to the type of plastic packaging material and the diffusion path.

3-D modeling of automatic pressure gelation process for manufacturing gas insulated switchgear spacer using bio-based epoxy composite

In existing power devices, various insulating parts are manufactured with petroleum-based epoxy resin. However, as petroleum-based resources are gradually depleted and environmental problems have emerged, research on replacing petroleum-based products with eco-friendly materials as insulators has been actively conducted. Therefore, in this study, a molding simulation study of the Auto Pressure Gelation (APG) process, one of the leading technologies, was conducted to manufacture a gas insulated switchgear (GIS) spacer using an environmentally friendly bio-based epoxy composite. Using the heat dissipation and degree of cure obtained through the dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test, it was applied to the Kamal-Sourour model which is a representative curing dynamics empirical formula. In addition, the viscosity change during the curing process was measured using a rheometer and applied to the cross Castro-Macoskco model. The results obtained were in good agreement with the experimental values. The parameters calculated above and other physical property values were input into Moldflow software, and simulation was performed targeting the three-phase spacer. While changing the temperature setting of the mold, the change and distribution of flow, temperature, and curing degree inside the product were observed during the reactive molding process. As a result, it was found that there was a possibility of clogging of the mold entrance at some set temperatures, and it was possible to suggest improvement directions to solve this problem. Through this series of research process, it is considered that it will be of great help in improving the quality problems of molded products and the process accordingly.

Cooling channel selection for big rectangular plastic parts in injection molding

There are various of types cooling channel designs that have been explored by many researchers to find the best cooling channel that resulted in the optimum results in the injection molding process. The previous research reported that the correct selection of cooling channels in mold design affects the quality of the product and the total cycle time, thus it affected the quality and profit in the manufacturing [1]. The problem in mold design is selecting the correct cooling channel design to ensure the heat transfer distribution is in uniform condition. This paper analysed the effectiveness of four types of different cooling channel designs, the diameter size of the cooling channel, and the variable of coolant temperature in the big rectangular plastic product with the same injection parameters and material type. The objective is to determine the effect of using different cooling channel designs on the cooling time and warpage effect with different coolant temperatures. The commercial mold flow software was used to simulate the injection behaviour to determine the quality of the warpage and total cooling time in the injection molding process. The result found that using a cooling channel type with arrays of the baffle, array bubbler, and conformal cooling channel can reduce the cooling time by almost 50% compared to the conventional cooling channel. The increased coolant temperature in the cooling channel also affects the increase in the cooling time.

Design of Injection Mould for Lithium Battery Heat Dissipation Device Connector Bottom Cover

The design process of the injection mould for the Lithium battery heat dissipation device connector bottom cover is described in detail. In the design process, the UG software is used to establish the three-dimensional model of the plastic part, and the mould flow analysis is carried out with the help of the moldflow software to determine the optimal gate position of the plastic part. By determining the injection process parameters of Lithium battery heat dissipation device connector bottom cover material, the design of the cavity layout of the plastic part is completed, and the basic size and mould structure of the mould base are determined. Then, the UG injection mould design guide module was used to carry out the parting design, and the structural design of the mould’s gating system, molding parts, lateral parting mechanism, core-pulling mechanism, ejection mechanism, exhaust system and cooling system was completed in turn. The whole design process improved the efficiency of mould design and saved a lot of time and cost.

STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF INJECTION MOLDING PARAMETERS ON THE WARPAGE AND SHRINKAGE IN HOT RUNNER SYSTEM MOLD

The good combination of injection molding parameters (IMP) will make high quality product by elimination of defects occurred during injection molding process such as warpage and shrinkage. This paper investigates influence of IMPs on shrinkage and warpage on injection molding process using hot runner system. Taguchi method and ANOVA analysis are used to optimize the IMPs including melt temperature, filling time, injection pressure, packing pressure, coolant inlet temperature, cooling time, and flow rate. The analysis and simulation processes were done by using a Moldflow software. The plastic material is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) with some features of the dimensional stability, chemical endurance, and simple processing capacity. The results show that melt temperature and coolant temperature are the main factors affecting the warpage with 66.67% of melt temperature and 15.59% of cooling temperature. The melt temperature and packing pressure are the main factors affecting the shrinkage with 74.62% of melt temperature and 19.46% of packing pressure. The optimal IMP is retested with warpage defect reduced 16.6% and shrinkage decreased of about 2.45% after optimization.

Application of CAE for mold flow analysis in plastic molding mold design

Abstract In this paper, injection molding is used as a method of plastic molding, which is a method in which plastic in the molten state is injected into a closed mold cavity by compression, and the molten material fills the cavity and is then cured by cooling to maintain the shape in the mold. The basic structural form and parameters of the mold’s parting surface, winding injection system, and cooling system are determined by mold flow analysis. CAE analysis is used to move the mold filling analysis to the computer, and the mold casting and cooling system’s design scheme can be evaluated and optimized according to the analysis results. After Moldflow software analysis of warpage deformation, the total warpage deformation of the molded part was obtained, the maximum deformation reached 0.931mm, the maximum deformation from uneven cooling was 0.192mm, the maximum deformation from uneven shrinkage was up to 0.942mm, the deformation from shrinkage was even larger than the integrated deformation, which had a greater impact on the final deformation of the molded part. It has a relatively large impact on the final deformation of the plastic part. Therefore, using CAE can improve the efficiency of mold design, optimize the structural design of the mold, effectively improve the quality of the mold and reduce the mold manufacturing cost. The promotion of its application is in line with the development of the times and promotes the rapid development of the injection mold field.

Predicting and Controlling the Quality of Injection Molding Properties for Fiber-Reinforced Composites

<div>Fiber-reinforced composites are widely used in injection molding processes because of their high strength and high elastic modulus. However, the addition of reinforcing agents such as glass fibers has a significant impact on their injection molding quality. The difference in shrinkage and hardness between the plastic and the reinforcement will bring about warpage and deformation in the injection molding of the product. At the same time, the glass fibers will be oriented in the flow direction during the injection molding process. This will enhance the mechanical properties in the flow direction and increase the shrinkage in the vertical direction, reducing the molding quality of the product. In this study, a test program was developed based on the Box-Behnken test design in the Design-Expert software, using a plastic part as an example. Moldflow software was used for simulation, and data analysis of the experimental data was carried out to investigate the significance of the influence of each injection molding process parameter on the molding quality. In addition to this, a mathematical model between the injection molding process parameters and the quality objectives was established by optimizing the model parameters of the back-propagation (BP) neural network through the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. The established mathematical model is then globally optimized using a multi-objective function optimization based on the non-dominated rank-based sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) to obtain the optimal combination of process parameters. The research in this article provides a theoretical basis for further combining intelligent algorithms to improve injection molding quality.</div>

Analysis of ducted fan warpage based on the response surface methodology and a genetic algorithm

AbstractDucted fans with thin‐shelled tubular structures are typically used in unmanned aerial vehicles. However, due to their thinness and heterogeneity, the ducts are prone to warpage deformation, which can adversely affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the fans. In this study, Moldflow software was used to analyze and reduce the warpage deformation of a duct made of 15 wt% glass fiber‐reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. First, a Taguchi experiment was performed to determine the main factors affecting the warpage: the mold surface temperature, melt temperature, injection pressure, and holding pressure. Subsequently, the response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to define a regression equation and response surface relating the dependent and independent variables, and a genetic algorithm (GA) was used for optimization. The maximum warpage was successfully reduced from 0.2217 to 0.0465 and 0.0578 mm through the RSM and GA analyzes, respectively, and the simulated results were validated by data collected using a COMET L3D system. Finally, the influence of the warpage of the ducted rear deflector on the aerodynamic performance was investigated by performing computational fluid dynamics analysis. The results indicated that curving the rear deflector has a beneficial effect on aerodynamic performance, as it increases velocity, but it also reduces the impact of the torque balance. This paper describes an innovative application method using a specific combination of analysis tools to address the problem of optimizing the design, modeling, and performance of ducted fans. This work can help predict manufacturing results and aerodynamic effectiveness at an early stage.

Plastic grow kit design project

Objective: The development of a product aimed at the recreation sector such as toys for children can represent many obstacles due to the public to which it is addressed and the problems that come to reflect with the efficiency of the plastic material and how that can affect the product itself. Method: Our starting point in this project was to make research about products that were already made, we had to became familiar with the materials commonly used for the invention of toys, know its properties until we find the ideal material for our product which in the end it turned out to be the HDPE of SABIC. Then based of previous knowledge we wrote the functional analysis of the product to characterize the functions offered by our product to satisfy the needs of our users. Next, we capture the ideas in a pulse sketch to be able to later make an electronic sketch with the help of a SolidWorks to make the idea tangible and do the necessary changes to the problems that progressively presented themselves to us. In fact, the invention of the toy evolved as we went along, this was precisely the strongest barrier of the whole assignment. Furthermore, we decide based on our judgment and research that the best method to make our culture kit was through injection, because it benefits us in the aspects of time and cost of the process. Consequently, we had the task of carrying out mechanical resistance tests in the Mold Flow software to ensure that our design was practical. Contribution: Finally, we had to obtain the approximate cost of machinery in the production invested on our piece, which gave us a cost of about 4.938 €. And that helped us to obtain countable results from simulations, such as the cycle time.

Research on Optimization of Injection Molding Process Parameters of Automobile Plastic Front-End Frame

The main objective of the present article is to obtain the optimum technological parameters of the automobile plastic front-end frame. Moldflow software was used to simulate the injection molding of the automobile plastic front-end frame bracket in this study. The uniformity experiment was designed and completed. Five injection molding process parameters, including mold temperature, melt temperature, packing pressure, injection time, and packing time, were selected as experimental factors. Volume shrinkage and warpage amount were selected as quality evaluation indexes. Statistical Product Service Solutions (SPSS) software was used to perform linear regression analysis on the test results, respectively, and the linear regression equation corresponding to the two evaluation indexes was obtained. Then, regression equation analysis was carried out to obtain the optimal process parameter combination of the volume shrinkage and the warpage amount. A back propagation (BP) neural network model with input as a process parameter and output as an evaluation index is established by MATLAB and optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA). Finally, the optimized neural network model was used to predict the combination of process parameters with the minimum volume shrinkage and warpage amount. Based on the performed simulations, the minimum volume shrinkage and the minimum amount of warping in the optimal design were 13% and 0.7062 mm, respectively. The corresponding combination of process parameters was the mold temperature of 75.5°C, the melt temperature of 285.32°C, the packing pressure of 42.32 MPa, the injection time of 3.45 s, and the packing time of 60 s. According to the optimal process parameters, the volume shrinkage and warpage amount of the automobile plastic front-end frame have reached the optimal state at the same time, which improves the quality of injection molding and reduces production and processing costs. It has a certain guiding significance.

Automatic Pressure Gelation Analysis for Insulating Spacer of Gas Insulated Switchgear Manufactured by Bio-Based Epoxy Composite

In the case of the existing power equipment business, a variety of insulation and accessories is manufactured with petroleum-based epoxy resins. However, as petrochemical resources are gradually limited and concerns about the environment and economy grow, the power equipment industry has recently studied many insulating materials using bio-based epoxy to replace petroleum feedstock-based products in order to produce insulators using eco-friendly materials. In this paper, the simulation of the automatic pressure gelation process was performed by obtaining parameter values of curing kinetics and chemical rheology through physical properties analysis of bio-based epoxy complexes and applying them to Moldflow software. The simulation results were compared and analyzed according to the temperature control of each heater in the mold, while considering the total curing time, epoxy flow, and curing condition. A temperature condition of 140 °C/140 °C/135 °C/135 °C/130 °C/130 °C/120 °C/120 °C provided the optimal curing conditions. Based on the temperature conditions of the simulation results, the actual GIS spacer was manufactured, and x-ray inspection was performed to check the moldability.

Design recommendation for thermal conductive plastic parts in automotive industry

In this paper we will present a mechanical study made on the design of thermal conductive plastic parts. Out of our study derived new design rules that are useful for mechanical design engineers that have to create parts built from this type of materials. We used Catia V6 software for modelling the parts and ANSYS Moldflow software to simulate the behaviour of real components. The solutions resulted from our trials are improving the quality of the parts built from thermal conductive plastics. The test and simulation results lead us to new rules for designing screw domes and rivets for thermal conductive plastic parts and reducing warpage effect with 75% on this kind of parts.

Research on the Injection Mold Design and Molding Process Parameter Optimization of a Car Door Inner Panel

Numerical simulation of the injection molding of the inner panel of the car door and the optimization of its process parameters were completed. The inner panel and its injection mold were designed by UG software and simulated by the filling and cooling module of the Moldflow software. Different gate schemes were selected to compare quality indicators such as filling time, air pockets, and weld lines to obtain the optimal number of gates. We established the objective function model with gate position as the independent variable, and used a multi-population genetic algorithm to solve the optimal position of the function model to get the best gate position. The mold temperature, melt temperature, cooling time, holding pressure, and holding time were selected as the influencing factors, and volume shrinkage and warpage deformation were selected as the evaluation indicators to design and complete the orthogonal test. The test data were simulated by Moldflow, and the optimal combination of process parameters was determined by range and variance analysis. The BP neural network model related to the molding process parameters, volume shrinkage, and warpage deformation was built, and the trained network model was optimized with the ant colony algorithm. The optimal parameter combination was: mold temperature 76 ° C , melt temperature 205 ° C , cooling time 23.8s, holding pressure 54.7Mpa, and holding time 22.1s. The simulation results showed that volume shrinkage was 13.32% and warpage deformation was 4.315 mm. The design of an injection mold for the car door inner panel was completed and its molding process parameters were optimized.

Design of an Automobile Injection Mould Based on Automation Technology

At present, there are frequent occurrences in the industry of manufacturers only having products, but they have no product data, resulting in manufacturers unable to open molds to produce the products themselves and can only buy them at high prices. This article takes the rear case of an automobile generator produced by a company as an example, which aims to show the design of automobile injection molds through automation technology. This paper studies the use of automation technology to achieve the automatic model reconstruction of products, and uses the CAD technology to design injection molds based on the obtained digital models of products. This paper also uses the CAE technology to verify the feasibility and rationality of the designed mold, exploring the optimization method of the injection molding process of the mold. In this paper, a special product pouring system and demolding mechanism are designed according to the product process requirements. The design greatly simplifies the mold structure while fulfilling the product process requirements, which avoids the use of expensive hot runners and complex flip-chip mold structures, reducing the mold manufacturing cost. Secondly, the overall design of the injection mold is carried out, and the external dimensions and other main parameters of the mold are determined. Then, Moldflow software is used to simulate the injection molding process, verifying the feasibility and rationality of the designed mold. The optimization method of the injection molding process is also proposed, and the optimal injection process parameters are determined to ensure that the mold can produce qualified products and ensure high production efficiency. It can be seen from the analysis results that the maximum warpage deformation of the plastic part under all effects is 0.65 mm, which meets the product process requirements.

ANALYSIS OF INJECTOR LOCATION AND DEFECTS OF PRODUCTS RESULTING IN THE MANUFACTURING OF CAR BUMPERS USING MOLDFLOW SOFTWARE

Competition between industries is increasing. Every company is required to develop its products so that it has the ability to compete. PT XYZ is a company engaged in the automotive industry, one of its products is car bumpers. The problem faced by PT XYZ is the high number of product defects that are produced. This study aims to reduce product defects produced at PT XYZ. The research method is using injection molding simulation with moldflow software so that the best injector location is known and is expected to reduce production defects. The simulation results show that the best injector location is at the coordinates (752, 391, 239). The simulation results also show that there is no potential for water trap, weld line, and sinkmark defects that occur. However, the potential for warpage defects still exists. Three potential warpage defects that may occur are high warpage of 29%, medium warpage of 16.6% and low warpage of 5.4%.

Numerical simulation and experimental analysis for evaluating warpage of a 3D thin-walled polymeric part using the injection compression molding process

Abstract Injection compression molding (ICM) is a nontraditional hybrid injection molding (IM) process that has been utilized to mold a wide range of the latest and difficult-to-manufacture precision parts that require high dimensional accuracy and no residual stresses. This paper introduces the accurate calculation of warpage for ICM by numerical simulation via Moldflow software, and a comparison of results with products produced experimentally by ICM. To begin with, the process parameters of ICM were discussed based on the numerical simulations. The effects of process parameters, namely melt temperature, mold temperature, compression pressure, and compression distance, on warpage behavior of a molded 3D BJ356MO polypropylene (PP) (100MFI) part were investigated using Taguchi analysis. The obtained warpage results with optimum process parameters were compared with experimental measurements to test the validity of the simulation model of ICM. It was found that the numerical simulations of the ICM show good agreement with experimental measurements.

Design of New Charging Pile Based on Pro/E

This paper uses Pro/E, CAD and 3Ds max software to complete the modeling design of the new charging post.Firstly, 3D modeling, process analysis and calculation of the new charging pile parts were carried out. Then a solid model was established, according to the injection capacity, clamping force and injection pressure, the injection machine was initially selected, the cycle diagram of injection molding production process was drawn, and the mold opening and closing simulation was carried out. Finally, mold flow software was used to analyze the manufacturing process of the charging pile, virtual simulation of the problems of the injection machine during the injection process, and checking the feasibility of the design.A new type of charging pile is designed which has certain guiding significance for actual production.

Design and development of a novel double-chamber syringe concept for venous catheterization

This paper presents the optimization process for the development of an innovative double chamber syringe. Several aspects are involved such as design, functionality, fluid-structure interaction and friction between solids.To assist in the development of this medical device, a numerical based methodology was developed and validated in order to predict the syringe´s functionality, as well as its production by injection molding. The mechanical and flow behavior, during the filling and administration of medicine and washing solutions, were numerically modelled using the commercial software ABAQUS and FLUENT, respectively. The injection molding process was analyzed using the software MOLDFLOW. The aim was to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed concept in terms of mechanical design, fluid flow and production process behavior. By highlighting critical design issues in this way, it was possible to identify promising geometric changes and, consequently, optimize iteratively the syringe's design, until all the defined requirements are fulfilled.This iterative process based on numerical simulations proved to be a powerful tool for product development that generated fast and accurate results without the need to produce multiple prototypes.