Towards Enhancing the Potential of Injection Molding Tools through Optimized Close-Contour Cooling and Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

This work deals with the parametric optimization of the position and form of a conformal cooling used in the injection molding industry. Based on a literature survey, an optimization routine concerning the parameter optimization of cooling system designs was developed and implemented with the help of the software package Moldflow. The main objective of the optimization is to reduce the cooling time; the second is to obtain an optimized homogeneous temperature distribution over the complete tool surface. To enable a comparison of the new close-contour solution with a classical manufacturing process, an optimized cooling system simulation, based on a conventional manufacturing solution, was established. It can be shown that the optimized close-contour cooling design offers significant advantages that cannot be exploited using classical manufacturing. Finally, the additive manufacturing of a prototype in the framework of powder bed fusion is documented as a proof of concept.

Analysis of the main factors affecting mass production in the plastic molding process by using the finite element method

“…Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used in the test. Shrinkage of this plastic material is 2 % with a density of 1.3-1.7 g/cm 3 and 212 °C melting temperature.…”

“…The paper [3] suggested that one of the most costly and time-consuming phases in the new product development is the creation of production components and prototyping production tools. When temperature distribution is homogeneous, the cycle time from processing to demolding will be less and the production rates will be higher.…”

An RMLU-DLNN and BF-GAO based heat transfer assessment of conformal cooling channel in injection molding process

“…Injection molds were cooled by creating a straight drilled channel in the mold; but, that channel does not provide uniform and efficient cooling since it does not conform to the shape of the mold [6] . The conventional cooling approach faced difficulties in achieving consistent temperature distribution, resulting in longer cycle times due to the implementation of cooling circuits with straight drilled or milled channels [7][8][9] . In recent days, the Conformal Cooling Channel (CCC) has been frequently used in the injection molding process since it has more benefits than the conventional cooling channel [5] .…”