Influence of induction heating of injection molds on reliability of electrical connectors

Abstract

Continuous increase in demand for electricity causes that electrotechnical industry is relentlessly under pressure of technological development. It is necessary to reduce costs while increasing a reliability of manufactured products. Common miniaturization of products mounted in land vehicles, vessels and airplanes along with limitation of their weight requires the use of innovative production methods. This publication presents the problem of exploitation related with reliable assembly and disassembly of rail-mounted electrical connectors. In order to improve the reliability of injected electrical connector housings, the authors proposed the selective induction heating technology as a heating method of injection mould. To reveal the origin of the problem, in case of this work, the simulation studies of filling the mould cavity were carried out. They show an incorrect localization of polymer streams weld line. Then the results of the simulation and induction heating experiment are presented. They were necessary for the proper design and make of the injection mould. In the final stage, the experimental tests of the manufactured housings assembly and disassembly were performed in conditions corresponding to the actual conditions. The obtained results show, that selective induction heating technology has significantly improved the reliability of rail-mounted electrical connector housings.

Design and Simulation Study of the Induction Heated Injection Mold with Sliders

“…The forming cavity is a core placed inside the coil. The skin effect would occur in a more intense level during surface heating [ 27 , 28 ]. It relies on the fact that as the current frequency increases, the depth of penetration of the magnetic field lines into the material decreases.…”

“…The main factor verifying this technology is the obtained properties of the manufactured products. This has been discussed in the paper [ 28 ] where the authors analyzed the effect of selective heating on the production of electrical connector housing. Improved molding surface quality was achieved by using molding surface mapping while achieving heating rate of 10 °C/s [ 29 ].…”

Investigation of the Strength of Plastic Parts Improved with Selective Induction Heating

“…Confirmation of better surface quality during injection molding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Semi-Aromatic Polyamide using induction heating was presented in [40]. The effect of induction heating of selected forming surfaces on the strength properties of electrical housing connector was described in the paper [41].…”

Application of Selective Induction Heating for Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Elastic Hinges

“…The electromagnetic induction was used to heat the metallic material, giving, in effect, a longer flow path of the melted material. The work [ 23 ] studies the influence of induction heating of the injection mold in a selected area of the cavity on the strength properties of the electrical connector housing. The authors obtained better strength properties of the material by increasing the temperature of the selected area.…”