Gas assisted injection molding of a handle: Three-dimensional simulation and experimental verification

Methods implemented in a three-dimensional finite element code for the simulation of gas assisted injection molding are described, and predictions compared with the results of molding trials. The emphasis is on prediction of primary gas penetration and plastic wall thickness, including the effects of cooling during a delay before gas injection. For the latter, time dependent heat transfer coefficients at the cavity surface are used, determined in a separate analysis of transient heat conduction through the plastic and the mold tool to the circulating coolant. This shows how the initial value of 25,000 W/m(2)K falls by about an order of magnitude during the first few seconds of cooling, and also how values vary from cycle to cycle as steady periodic conditions are approached. For a tubular handle molded in polystyrene, with melt flow modeled by a Cross WLF model, comparisons of simulations with sectioned parts show excellent prediction of wall thickness and its variation circumferentially and in bends. The increase in wall thickness due to cooling during a gas delay is accurately modeled, as is the occurrence of a blow out.