Methodology of a thermal injection mold design with locally applied heating coatings on the cavity wall

Abstract

AbstractThe thermal balance of injection molds is defined by the cooling channel layout. However, the fluid tempering of injection molds underlies certain restrictions concerning the thermal dynamic and the local limitation of the zone of influence. The optimal heat balance within the mold to minimize warpage cannot be solely achieved with conformal cooling channels. Ceramic heating coating systems applied by Thermal Spraying on the cavity wall are a novel tempering method for high heating rates and offer the possibility of a more local heat input. In terms of the thermal mold design, the position and size of local heating coating systems need to be determined. A methodology is proposed, which connects the optimization of part warpage by defining the necessary local heat flux within the mold with the determination of the heating coating placement. Due to the dependence of the coating placement on the heating time and the power, different decision criteria of these parameters are discussed with regard to the process efficiency. The developed methodology can calculate the necessary heating power distribution to homogenize the surface temperature and freeze time. A second step discretizes the heating power distribution to certain manufacturable heating zones.