Flake Orientation in Injection Molding of Pigmented Thermoplastics

Author(s):  
Jang Min Park ◽  
Seok Jae Jeong ◽  
Seong Jin Park

In the present work, experimental studies are carried out to understand orientation kinematics of pigment flakes during the injection molding process. The injection molding experiments are carried out using ABS resin compounded with aluminum flakes. Thin specimens are sliced off from the injection molded sample, and then the orientation distribution is observed using transmitted microscopy. Generally, the microscopic result shows a sandwich structure where the orientation state near the mid-plane differs significantly from that around the surface. Particularly at the weldline region, locally different orientation is observed near the part surface, which is the result of fountain flow at the melt front. Also the effect of mold temperature on the flake orientation is presented.

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 557-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hopmann ◽  
Malte Röbig

Abstract Nowadays, the injection molding of optical components is becoming more and more important. A process which constructs the injection-molded part in layers offers considerable potential for productivity increases in the manufacturing of thick-walled optical components. The so-called multilayer injection molding, also known as overmolding technology enables a considerable reduction of the normally long cycle times and improves the optical properties. It is even possible to increase the molding accuracy due to the lower shrinkage potential of the single layers. Contrary to experience, the influence of the mold temperature on the bonding strength is very low. So, the temperature control of the mold can be adapted to the process consideration in regard to optical characteristics.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Truong Giang ◽  
Pham Son Minh ◽  
Tran Anh Son ◽  
Tran Minh The Uyen ◽  
Thanh-Hai Nguyen ◽  
...  

In the injection molding field, the flow of plastic material is one of the most important issues, especially regarding the ability of melted plastic to fill the thin walls of products. To improve the melt flow length, a high mold temperature was applied with pre-heating of the cavity surface. In this paper, we present our research on the injection molding process with pre-heating by external gas-assisted mold temperature control. After this, we observed an improvement in the melt flow length into thin-walled products due to the high mold temperature during the filling step. In addition, to develop the heating efficiency, a flow focusing device (FFD) was applied and verified. The simulations and experiments were carried out within an air temperature of 400 °C and heating time of 20 s to investigate a flow focusing device to assist with external gas-assisted mold temperature control (Ex-GMTC), with the application of various FFD types for the temperature distribution of the insert plate. The heating process was applied for a simple insert model with dimensions of 50 mm × 50 mm × 2 mm, in order to verify the influence of the FFD geometry on the heating result. After that, Ex-GMTC with the assistance of FFD was carried out for a mold-reading process, and the FFD influence was estimated by the mold heating result and the improvement of the melt flow length using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The results show that the air sprue gap (h) significantly affects the temperature of the insert and an air sprue gap of 3 mm gives the best heating rate, with the highest temperature being 321.2 °C. Likewise, the actual results show that the height of the flow focusing device (V) also influences the temperature of the insert plate and that a 5 mm high FFD gives the best results with a maximum temperature of 332.3 °C. Moreover, the heating efficiency when using FFD is always higher than without FFD. After examining the effect of FFD, its application was considered, in order to improve the melt flow length in injection molding, which increased from 38.6 to 170 mm, while the balance of the melt filling was also clearly improved.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 783-795
Author(s):  
Sara Liparoti ◽  
Vito Speranza ◽  
Annarita De Meo ◽  
Felice De Santis ◽  
Roberto Pantani

AbstractOne of the most significant issues, when thin parts have to be obtained by injection molding (i.e. in micro-injection molding), is the determination of the conditions of pressure, mold temperature, and injection temperature to adopt to completely fill the cavity. Obviously, modern computational methods allow the simulation of the injection molding process for any material and any cavity geometry. However, this simulation requires a complete characterization of the material for what concerns the rheological and thermal parameters, and also a suitable criterion for solidification. These parameters are not always easily reachable. A simple test aimed at obtaining the required parameters is then highly advantageous. The so-called spiral flow test, consisting of measuring the length reached by a polymer in a long cavity under different molding conditions, is a method of this kind. In this work, with reference to an isotactic polypropylene, some spiral flow tests obtained with different mold temperatures and injection pressures are analyzed with a twofold goal: on one side, to obtain from a few simple tests the basic rheological parameters of the material; on the other side, to suggest a method for a quick prediction of the final flow length.


2013 ◽  
Vol 345 ◽  
pp. 586-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Hong Tan ◽  
Lei Gang Wang ◽  
Wen Shen Wang

To obtain optimal injection process parameters, GA was used to optimize BP network structure based on Moldflow simulation results. The BP network was set up which considering the relationship between volume shrinkage of plastic parts and injection parameters, such as mold temperature, melt temperature, holding pressure and holding time etc. And the optimal process parameters are obtained, which is agreed with actual results. Using BP network to predict injection parameters impact on parts quality can effectively reduce the difficulty and workload of other modeling methods. This method can be extended to other quality prediction in the process of plastic parts.Keyword: Genetic algorithm (GA);Neural network algorithm (BP);Injection molding process optimization;The axial deformation


2017 ◽  
Vol 728 ◽  
pp. 258-263
Author(s):  
Badin Pinpathomrat ◽  
Suchalinee Mathurosemontri ◽  
Supaphorn Thumsorn ◽  
Hiroyuki Hamada

Aim of this study focused on insert injection molding process, which is molded the melted polymer around an inserted part placed in the molded cavity of injection molding process. The interfacial adhesive strength between the inserted and an injected polymer parts were investigated by Intron universal test machine in order to investigate the effect of material in inserted and injected part. During tensile testing the acoustic emissions (AE) measurement was applied to evaluate the fracture behavior of insert injection molding. It was found that interfacial adhesive strength of insert injection molded of all specimens increased according with increasing the bonding area of adhesive interface. The fracture mode of the insert injection molded specimens was depended on the length of bonding area of the inserted part. The fracture of mode of the insert-injection molded specimens was confirmed by acoustic emission.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jixiang Zhang ◽  
Xiaoyi Yin ◽  
Fengzhi Liu ◽  
Pan Yang

Abstract Aiming at the problem that a thin-walled plastic part easily produces warpage, an orthogonal experimental method was used for multiparameter coupling analysis, with mold structure parameters and injection molding process parameters considered synthetically. The plastic part deformation under different experiment schemes was comparatively studied, and the key factors affecting the plastic part warpage were analyzed. Then the injection molding process was optimized. The results showed that the important order of the influence factors for the plastic part warpage was packing pressure, packing time, cooling plan, mold temperature, and melt temperature. Among them, packing pressure was the most significant factor. The optimal injection molding process schemes reducing the plastic part warpage were melt temperature (260°C), mold temperature (60°C), packing pressure (150 MPa), packing time (2 s), and cooling plan 3. In this situation, the forming plate flatness was better.


2012 ◽  
Vol 468-471 ◽  
pp. 1013-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Qing Lai

Molding is one of the most versatile and important processes for manufacturing complex plastic parts. It is a method of fabricating plastic parts by utilizing a mold or cavity that has a shape and size similar to the part being produced. Molten polymer is injected into the cavity, resulting in the desired part upon solidification. The injection-molded parts typically have excellent dimensional tolerance and require almost no finishing and assembly operations. But new variations and emerging innovations of conventional injection molding have been continuously developed to offer special features and benefits that cannot be accomplished by the conventional injection molding process. This study aims to improving the life of stereolithography injection mold.


2013 ◽  
Vol 561 ◽  
pp. 239-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Nie ◽  
Hui Min Zhang ◽  
Jia Teng Niu

This article is using Moldflow analysis and orthogonal experimental method during the whole experiment. The injection molding process of motor cover is simulated under various technological conditions.After forming the maximum amount of warpage of plastic parts for evaluation.According to the range analysis of the comprehensive goal, the extent of the overall influence to the processing parameters, such as gate location, melt temperature, mold temperature and holding pressure is clarified.Through analyzing the diagrams of influential factors resulted from the simulation result,the optimized process parameter scheme is obtained and further verified by simulation.


Author(s):  
Catalin Fetecau ◽  
Ion Postolache ◽  
Felicia Stan

The research presented in this paper involves numerical and experimental efforts to investigate the relative thin-wall injection molding process in order to obtain high dimensional quality complex parts. To better understand the effects of various processing parameters (the filling time, injection pressure, the melting temperature, the mold temperature) on the injection molding of a thin-wall complex part, the molding experiments are regenerated into the computer model using the Moldflow Plastics Insight (MPI) 6.1 software. The computer visualization of the filling phase allows accurate prediction of the location of the flow front, welding lines and air traps. Furthermore, in order to optimize the injection molding process, the effects of the geometry of the runner system on the filling and packing phases are also investigated. It is shown that computational modeling could be used to help the process and mold designer to produce accurate parts.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document