High Efficiency Cooling and Heating Channels for Injection Moulding

Abstract

For many years traditional injection moulding has been the norm for obtaining polymer based products, and yet this cycle still shows potential for improvement. This paper will encompass the potential in the thermal part of the cycle, by introducing a novel approach to conventional tubular cooling designs, empowered by additive technologies this reiterates what’s being known as conformal cooling. Different geometries and techniques are compared to determine the optimal cross section layout of the fluid channels and inner surface of the moulding parts. If the cooling achieved is sufficiently fast the crystallographic growth of the material can be manipulated to obtain specific properties observable in the mesoscale. This however can be transversely applied in other heat exchanging structures in future studies.