Novel 3-D In-Cavity Temperature Measurement, Morphological Development and Processability of Fluid Assisted Injection Molded Parts

Project: National Science and Technology CouncilNational Science and Technology Council Academic Grants

Project Details

Abstract

This research is to develop a novel experimental set-up which allows the measurement of 3-D temperature field in the depth of the fluid assisted injection molding cavities throughout the molding cycles. The effects of in-mold temperature distribution on the development of molecular structure inside molded articles will also be investigated. In addition, the 3-D temperature measurement technique will be applied to the molding of thermoplastic elastomers to examine the difference of gas and water assisted injection molding cycles and their influences on the processability of TPE material. The proposal will include a three-stage research and will be competed in three years. For the research of the first year, the study will attempt to develop a special experimental set-up, which includes a fluid assisted injection mold equipped with tubular needles for guiding embedded thermocouples, to measure the temperature field inside the cavity. Temperature distributions in fluid assisted injection molding, including gas and water assisted injection molding, processes will be measured and recorded by a data acquisition system on a personal computer. The possible flow disturbance induced by the tubular measurement device and its influence on the accuracy of measured temperatures will be investigated. The shear heating by the viscous dissipation in the runners and in the cavity will also be measured and examined. The second part of this proposal will focus on the in-mold temperature profiles and the structural development of fluid assisted injection molded parts. The influence of in-mold temperature distribution on the morphological properties of fluid assisted injection molded PE/PC blends will be investigated. The effects of various processing parameters on the in-cavity temperature distribution and the molecular orientation of the polymeric materials in molded parts will be examined. In the third year, the developed temperature sensor will be used to measure the in-cavity temperature in fluid assisted injection molded thermoplastic elastomers. A comparison will be made between gas assisted injection molding and water assisted injection molding, to better understand the temperature profile variations as well as their influence on the moldability of the TPE materials. The effect of various processing parameters on the moldability of the TPE parts will also be investigated. The final goal of this research is to develop a novel device to measure the in-mold temperature distribution in fluid assisted injection molded parts. A precise measurement of the in-depth temperature profile can be helpful to better understand the molding phenomena, to validate the numerical simulation results, as well as to optimize the parameters for the molding processes. This will provide significant advantages in terms of reduced cycle time as well as improved products quality.

Project IDs

Project ID:PB10001-0234
External Project ID:NSC98-2221-E182-003-MY3
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date01/08/1131/07/12

Keywords

  • Fluid assisted injection molding
  • 3-D in-mold temperature

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