Title: Applying flow simulations in the development process of injection moulded thermoplastic parts

Authors: Carlos N. Barbosa; Francisco Carvalho; Julio C. Viana; Markus Franzen; Thomas Baranowski; Ricardo Simoes

Addresses: Institute for Polymers and Composites – IPC/I3N, University of Minho – UM, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal ' Institute for Polymers and Composites – IPC/I3N, University of Minho – UM, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal ' Institute for Polymers and Composites – IPC/I3N, University of Minho – UM, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal ' Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen GmbH, Süsterfeldstraße200, D-52072 Aachen, Germany ' Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen GmbH, Süsterfeldstraße200, D-52072 Aachen, Germany ' Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave – IPCA, 4750-810 Barcelos, Portugal; Institute for Polymers and Composites – IPC/I3N, University of Minho – UM, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Abstract: The main challenge of this contribution pertains to the local prediction of mechanical properties over the entire domain of an injection moulded unreinforced thermoplastic component as a function of process settings by means of flow simulations. Current state-of-the-art prediction capabilities are limited and thus hamper the advantage of simulations in the product development process. In the proposed approach, a dedicated computer application allows importing computer aided flow study results from the Autodesk Moldflow Insight package and locally, i.e. per element of the meshed model, characterising the thermo-mechanical environment (TME). Cooling and thermo-stress indices (at the end of filling, packing, and cooling phases), are used to characterise the local thermal and mechanical environment during the injection moulding process. The prediction of the Young's modulus through the TME assessment for certain regions of the thermoplastic automotive component (door panel) was accomplished and compared to experimental results, having shown good agreement, thus validating the proposed approach.

Keywords: simulation; injection moulding; thermomechanical indices; mechanical properties; thermoplastic parts; automotive components; automobile industry; cooling; thermo-stress; Young's modulus; door panels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2016.073620

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2016 Vol.52 No.1/2, pp.76 - 95

Received: 04 Nov 2014
Accepted: 01 Apr 2015
Published online: 14 Dec 2015 *

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