International Polymer Processing, Vol.26, No.3, 265-274, 2011
The Effects of Various Variotherm Processes and Their Mechanisms on Injection Molding
To eliminate surface defects and improve the quality of molded parts, increasing the mold temperature is one of the solutions. Using high mold temperature can eliminate weld lines, reduce molding pressure, residual stress and clamping force and improve part surface quality. However, with the increasing of mold temperature, the cycle time will also be increased. Hence, people have paid the attention to mold temperature control technologies. Among them, the variotherm molding technologies, including Rapid Heat Cycle Molding (RHCM), Induction Heating Molding (IHM), and Electricity Heating Mold (E-mold), are some effective methods. Although those variotherm technologies have been proposed, how does the external or internal heating source affect the injection molding process and the final product? The true function and the efficiency study of each technology still remain vague. Hence, in this paper, we have systematically conducted various technologies, including Conventional Injection Molding (CIM), RHCM, IHM, and E-mold, by using true 3D transient cool technology. Through the inside mechanism investigation at various moments in time, the functions and the heating-cooling efficiency for each technology can be visualized. Besides, experimental study and verification of IHM are also performed.