DYNAMIC TEMPERATURE CONTROL INFLUENCE ON PRESSURE DURING INJECTION MOLDING OF PLASTIC PARTS TO IMPROVE PART QUALITY

The plastics industry is continuously demanding for plastic parts with higher quality and improved mechanical properties. To meet these demands, companies depending on efficient and reliable flow simulation software. These simulation tools are valuable in optimizing the process parameters to obtain a plastic part with improved surface quality. This work studies the flow behavior on a plastic part with non-trivial model features, such as, holes, ribs, thin walls and zones with different thickness, using various injection point locations and different mold temperatures, under dynamic temperature control. Results have shown significant influence on the final process parameters, such as the injection pressure. A mold temperature increase from 40ºC to 160ºC and then to 200ºC, promoted by an external system heating the mold surface, resulted on reductions of 36% and then another 42% of the injection pressure, respectively. This will have a very positive effect on the surface quality of the part as well as potentially eliminating several aesthetic defects.