Experimental investigation of infrared rapid surface heating for injection molding

A low cost and practical infrared rapid surface heating system for injection molding is designed and investigated. The system was designed to assemble on the mold and a control system was used to operate the motion of the lamp holder. Four infrared halogen lamps (1 kW each) were used as the radiative source to heat the surface of mold insert. The temperature increase is verified on the mold plate with a thermal video system. Two types of specular reflectors combined with different bulb configurations were applied to study the heating ability of radiation heating. A modified spiral flow mold was used to test the enhancing filling ability of the rapid surface heating system. Three resins, PP, PMMA and PC were molded in the spiral flow injection molding experiments. If spherical reflector and centralized lamp configuration are used, the temperature at the center of the mold surface is the highest. The temperature of mold center surface is raised from 83°C to 188°C with 15 s of infrared heating. Because the surface temperature of the mold insert is higher than the glass transition temperature of resins before filling, the flow distance of resins in the modified spiral flow mold will be increased. The location effect of the infrared surface heating system on a thin‐long cavity was studied to demonstrate the possibility of using smaller infrared heating area on a large mold surface. A microprobe cavity also demonstrated that with the assistance of infrared heating technology the formability of a microprobe can be greatly improved. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3704–3713, 2006     

Dynamic mold surface temperature control using induction heating and its effects on the surface appearance of weld line

Electromagnetic induction heating combined with coolant cooling is used to achieve dynamic mold surface temperature control. A simulation tool was also developed by integration of both thermal and electromagnetic analysis modules of ANSYS, and capability and accuracy were verified experimentally. To evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of induction heating on the mold surface temperature control, a mold plate (roughly about an inset size of cellular phone housing) with four cooling channels was utilized for two demo experiments with varying mold surface temperature between 110 and 180°C, and 110 and 200°C, respectively. During induction heating/cooling, it takes 4 s to increase mold surface temperature from 110 to 200°C and 21 s for mold surface to return to 110°C. The mold plate surface temperature can be raised at about 22.5°C and cooled down at 4.3°C/s within the aforementioned temperature range. Mold plate temperature distribution exhibits good uniformity as well in all stages of the heating/cooling process. Finally, mold surface temperature of a double‐gated tensile test part mold was induction heated to above glass transition temperature for few seconds prior to melt injection. The surface mark of weld line was eliminated, and the associated weld line strength enhanced. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1174–1180, 2006     

Research on optimum heating system design for rapid thermal response mold with electric heating based on response surface methodology and particle swarm optimization

A new electric‐heating rapid thermal response (RTR) mold with floating cavity/core for rapid heat cycle molding is investigated in this study. Process principles of Rapid heat cycle molding (RHCM) with such new electric‐heating mold are discussed and presented. Response surface methodology (RSM) is employed to develop mathematical relationships between layout of the heating elements and heating efficiency, temperature uniformity and structural strength of the floating cavity. Three explanatory variables including half distance between two adjacent heating rods, spacing between heating rods and cavity surface, and the diameter of the heating rod are used to describe the layout and scale of the heating elements. The response variables involving required heating time, maximum cavity surface temperature, and maximum von‐Mises stress are used to characterize heating efficiency, temperature uniformity, and structural strength of the floating cavity, respectively. Central composite design (CCD) method is used for factorial experiments. Finite element analyses are conducted for combination of explanatory parameters to acquire the corresponding values of the response variables. Three predictive models for the response variables are created by regression analysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to check their accuracy. These response surface models are interfaced with an effective particle swarm algorithm for the optimum heating system design of the electric‐heating RTR mold. The developed optimum method is then used for the design of the floating electric‐heating cavity for an actual industrial product. The following heat transfer analysis results show that the temperature distribution uniformity of the cavity surface is greatly improved with the optimal cavity structure and layout of heating rods. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Thermal response of an electric heating rapid heat cycle molding mold and its effect on surface appearance and tensile strength of the molded part

Rapid heat cycle molding (RHCM) is a newly developed injection molding technology in recent years. In this article, a new electric heating RHCM mold is developed for rapid heating and cooling of the cavity surface. A data acquisition system is constructed to evaluate thermal response of the cavity surfaces of the electric heating RHCM mold. Thermal cycling experiments are implemented to investigate cavity surface temperature responses with different heating time and cooling time. According to the experimental results, a mathematical model is developed by regression analysis to predict the highest temperature and the lowest temperature of the cavity surface during thermal cycling of the electric heating RHCM mold. The verification experiments show that the proposed model is very effective for accurate control of the cavity surface temperature. For a more comprehensive analysis of the thermal response and temperature distribution of the cavity surfaces, the numerical‐method‐based finite element analysis (FEA) is used to simulate thermal response of the electric heating RHCM mold during thermal cycling process. The simulated cavity surface temperature response shows a good agreement with the experimental results. Based on simulations, the influence of the power density of the cartridge heaters and the temperature of the cooling water on thermal response of the cavity surface is obtained. Finally, the effect of RHCM process on surface appearance and tensile strength of the part is studied. The results show that the high‐cavity surface temperature during filling stage in RHCM can significantly improve the surface appearance by greatly improving the surface gloss and completely eliminating the weld line and jetting mark. RHCM process can also eliminate the exposing fibers on the part surface for the fiber‐reinforced plastics. For the high‐gloss acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polymethyl methacrylate (ABS/PMMA) alloy, RHCM process reduces the tensile strength of the part either with or without weld mark. For the fiber‐reinforced plastics of polypropylene (PP) + 20% glass fiber, RHCM process reduces the tensile strength of the part without weld mark but slightly increases the tensile strength of the part with weld mark. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Experimental rapid surface heating by induction for micro‐injection molding of light‐guided plates

This work experimentally investigates the use of induction‐heating to heat mold surfaces rapidly, and thus enhance the replication effect of the microstructure of light‐guided plates (LGP) in the injection molding process. This investigation employs a 2‐inch LGP injection mold as the experimental carrier, and compares the replication effect on the microstructure of induction heating with that of conventional oil‐heating. Temperature increases on the mold plate are examined using a thermal video system. The experimental results show that (1) the flat induction coil design promotes rapid surface heating. (2) Induction‐heating the mold surface to 110°C improves the replication rate of the height of the micro‐structure by up to 95%. (3) The LGP produced by induction heating has no significant residual stress. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Analysis of asymmetric morphology evolutions in iPP molded samples induced by uneven temperature field

Mold surface temperature has a strong effect on the amount of molecular orientation and morphology developed in a non‐isothermal flowing polymer melt. In this work, a well‐characterized isotactic polypropylene was injected in a rectangular mold cavity asymmetrically conditioned by a thin electric heater specifically designed. The cavity surface was heated at temperatures ranging from 80 to 160°C for different times (0.5, 8, and 18 s) after the first contact with the polymer. Asymmetrical thermal conditions have a strong influence on the melt flow, by changing its distribution along the cavity thickness, and final part deformation. The morphology distribution of the molded samples was found strongly asymmetric with complex and peculiar features. Optical and Electron microscopy confirmed the complete reorganization of the crystalline structures along the sample thickness. X‐rays analysis reveals that molecular orientation of the sample surface decreases with the mold temperature and the heating time. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2699–2712, 2016     

Characterization of mold fouling during elastomer injection molding

Consideration is given to the characterization and origins of mold fouling occurring during the injection molding of elastomers. Results for nitrile rubber and fluoroelastomer compounds are presented with a range of techniques, including light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis by energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and surface‐energy measurements with the sessile drop approach. A specially designed mold tool combined with interchangeable cavity inserts has also enabled the exploration of the effects of different metal surface treatments on the onset and extent of mold fouling. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3186–3194, 2006     

Multiobjective optimization design of heating system in electric heating rapid thermal cycling mold for yielding high gloss parts

An optimization design method is developed for the electric heating system in rapid thermal cycling molding (RTCM) mold. First, a multiobjective optimization model is established, in which the distance between the mold cavity surface and the center of heating elements and the number and power density of heating elements are the design variables, the required heating time t_h and the highest cavity surface temperature T_max at time t_h are the objective functions. Then, an optimization strategy consisting of design of experiment, finite element analysis, artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) models, and Pareto‐based genetic algorithm is proposed to solve the multiobjective optimization model. Finally, the optimization strategy is applied for the design of the heating system for an automotive spoiler blow mold. The results show that the temperature distribution uniformity on the blow mold cavity surface is obviously improved and high heating efficiency is also ensured with the optimized design parameters. Moreover, the ANN model exhibits its superiority over the RSM model in terms of modeling and predictive abilities. A RTCM blow mold with the optimized electric heating system is constructed and successfully utilized to mold high gloss automotive spoiler. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2014 , 131, 39976.     

Injection Molding Nanoscale Features with the Aid of Induction Heating

During injection molding of micron or submicron scale features, incomplete filling frequently occurs, resulting from premature freezing of the polymer melt in contact with a cold mold. In order to overcome the filling difficulty without increasing the total cycle time, the mold surface temperature was raised rapidly by induction heating. A prototype mold insert with cooling channels was fabricated and integrated with a nickel stamp having nanoscale-grating structures. The nickel stamp surface was successfully heated from 25 to 258°C in 2.7 sec. Four different mold surface temperatures, 100, 150, 200 and 250°C, were tested to determine if the nanograting structures can be replicated with an optical quality cyclic olefin copolymer. Experimental results indicate that the nanocavities were successfully filled when the surface temperature reached 250°C, but mold release caused drag damages on the nanogratings. Further, coupled thermoelectromagnetic analyses were carried out to simulate the induction heating process of the nanostructured mold insert. The predicted surface temperature responses in general agree with the experimental ones and the simulation model can be used in the further development of process control and mold design in micro/nano molding.     

Numerical and experimental investigations on polymer melt flow phenomenon in a vario‐thermal mold cavity

Mold temperature is one of the key factors affecting the morphology and quality of plastic parts. This article explores the melt flow phenomena in a vario‐thermal mold cavity. A coupled numerical method, considering the conjugate heat transfer between the mold and melt, is developed for the melt flow simulation. Mold temperature variations and melt flow phenomena for short shot injection in an electrical heated mold cavity are numerically studied and verified by experiments. The results indicate that the melt flow length and cavity filling ratio increase significantly with the elongation of the preheating time before injection. Melt filling ratio increased nearly linearly with the increasing of electric heating time. The smaller the injection pressure is, the bigger the relative filling ratio increment is. Therefore, polymer melt can flow much longer or the mold cavity can be filled up with a smaller injection pressure when the cavity is preheated. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45193.     

Surface wettability improvement of silicone elastomers synthesized with water‐soluble polyacrylic acid molds

The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of water‐soluble hydrophilic plastic molds for preparing siloxane based random copolymers and for enhancing the surface wettability of resultant polymers, with a view for contact lens manufacture. The random copolymer consisted of silicone monomers and a small amount of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NVP) along with vinyl acetate and diethyleneglycoldiallylether as a crosslinker. The surface of this copolymer, which faced against a polyacrylic acid (PAA) mold, showed a higher degree of wettability compared to that obtained against a hydrophobic polypropylene (PP) mold. After heating at 80°C for 4 h, the surface of this copolymer became hydrophobic. When it was immersed in water, however, the high degree of surface wettability regained within 30 s, whereas no significant change in wettability was observed for the PP‐facing surface. The results obtained from X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the polar fraction, which is attributed to NVP fractions of the copolymer, concentrated at the vicinity of the PAA facing surface and, in consequence, improved the surface wettability. This surface also showed a dynamic rearrangement of the wettability in response to changes of the surrounding environment. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 3786–3789, 2003     

Optimal thermal design of compression molds for chopped-fiber composites

Because heat is convected by the motion of material in the cavity of a compression mold, the time-averaged heating load on the cavity surface is nonuniform. In rapid production of large, thin parts, this can lead to large variations in cavity surface temperature when the mold is heated by the usual uniform distribution of heating lines. In this paper, a new method is developed for optimizing the mold heating design so that this nonuniform heating requirement can be satisfied with a minimum variation in cavity surface temperature. Oil heating is considered specifically, but the method can also be used for stream or electric heat. The optimal position and power supply for each heating line in the mold is determined by combining mathematical programming techniques with an analysis of the steady temperature field in the mold. The nonuniform heating load on the cavity surface is represented by a time-averaged steady heat transfer coefficient calculated from the transient temperature distribution in a polyester sheet molding compound as it fills the mold cavity. The design method is applied to an example mold for a large flat panel. At a one-minute cycle, the optimal heating design dramatically reduces nonuniformity in cavity surface temperature compared with a conventional distribution of heating lines. The optimal design is remarkably simple, uses only conventional equipment, and involves only half the customary number of heating lines. Nevertheless, it still has sufficient flexibility to adjust for changes in cycle time without sacrificing uniformity in cavity surface temperature.     

Stretchable conductive films based on carbon nanomaterials prepared by spray coating

Stretchable conductive films consisting of a layer of carbon nanomaterials, that is, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), mechanically exfoliated graphene (GE), or chemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO), deposited on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films were prepared by spray coating. The correlations among the concentration of the carbon nanomaterials, the electrical resistance and the optical transmittance of the spray‐coated films were investigated. The results show that the conductivity of the CNT coatings was better than that of the GE‐based coatings. When the CNT concentration of the dispersion for spraying increased from 0.01 to 0.075 mg/mL, the surface electrical resistance decreased from 7.8 × 10³ to 6.7 × 10² Ω, whereas for the GE or rGO coatings, the electrical resistance was several orders higher than that of the CNT coatings. The CNT spray‐coated films exhibited an optical transmittance of about 60% at a wavelength of 550 nm; this was higher than that of the GE or rGO spray‐coated films. The electric heating behaviors of the stretchable conductive films as functions of the applied voltage and the concentration of carbon nanomaterials and the electrical conductivity under tensile and bending strains were also investigated. The surface temperature of the CNT‐coated films rose rapidly up to 200°C within about 40 s when the applied voltage was 110 V. The stretchable conductive films have potential as electric heating elements because of their excellent conductive properties. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43243.     

Visualization analysis of the filling behavior of melt into microscale V‐grooves during the filling stage of injection molding

With the rapid increase in the applications of polymer microreplication, it has become important to understand the replication process. Visualization is clearly the most direct and definite method of determining the replication process. In our experiment, the behavior of melt flowing over a stamper with V‐grooves was observed through a prism glass installed in the mold; an ultrahigh‐speed video camera connected with a long‐distance microscope was used. As a result, when molding with an open cavity having V‐grooves with a pitch of 100 μm and at an injection rate of 50 cm³/s, the filling of the melt into the V‐grooves was generally completed during the first several milliseconds after the melt flowed over the grooves. However, as the pitch of the V‐grooves decreased to 50 μm, the filling process slowed, thereby decreasing the filling ratio. In all cases, the filling of the melt into the V‐grooves was accelerated when the injection rate increased, and this was followed by an increase in the filling ratio. In addition, the effects of mold temperature and cavity thickness on the filling behavior were also investigated. This visualization analysis offers a unique opportunity to understand and improve the replication process by injection molding. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:1590–1597, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Effects of mold cavity temperature on surface quality and mechanical properties of nanoparticle‐filled polymer in rapid heat cycle molding

Acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS)/poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) and ABS/PMMA/nano‐CaCO₃ composites were prepared in a corotating twin screw extruder. Single‐gate and double‐gate samples were molded based on a rapid heat cycle molding (RHCM) system. Effects of mold cavity temperature on surface quality and mechanical properties of single‐gate and double‐gate samples in RHCM process were conducted. The results showed that surface quality of plastic parts can be improved significantly by increasing mold cavity temperature. Nano‐CaCO₃ particles on the surface of plastic parts can be eliminated by using high mold cavity temperature. The roughness and gloss of two kinds of plastic parts (ABS/PMMA and ABS/PMMA/nano‐CaCO₃) stabilized at the same level when the mold cavity temperature is above glass transition temperature of resin material. Weld line can be eliminated in RHCM process during high mold cavity temperature. The tensile strength of both ABS/PMMA and ABS/PMMA/nano‐CaCO₃ exhibited decreasing trend with the increase of mold cavity temperature. Reduction of internal stress gave rise to the increase of Izod impact strength of ABS/PMMA for both sing‐gate and double‐gate samples. However, influence regularity of mold cavity temperature on Izod impact strength of ABS/PMMA/nano‐CaCO₃ is depended on the number of gates. For all the samples in this study, too high of mold cavity temperature (higher than 125°C) deprave Izod impact strength of plastic parts. Both ABS/PMMA and ABS/PMMA/nano‐CaCO₃ are not susceptible to weld line. When the mold surface temperature is approximately equal to glass transition temperature of resin material, all the samples are found to give the best combination of properties. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41420.     

Development of polymer‐molding‐releasing metal mold surfaces with perfluorinated‐group‐containing polymer plating

The polymer‐molding‐releasing properties of metal molds were found to be related to the following factors: (1) interfacial chemical bonding between the surfaces of polymers and metal molds and (2) a friction force or friction coefficient between polar substances and/or low‐molecular‐weight components in the polymers and physical factors on mold surfaces. We theoretically and experimentally confirmed that metal molds with good polymer‐molding‐releasing properties had very small surface free energies. We also proved that the surface free energies in the resulting polymer moldings were lower than before shaping. The molding releasing properties improved with decreasing friction force and friction coefficient between the surface of polymers and metal molds and with decreasing surface free energy. To obtain metal molds with lower surface free energies, we developed a polymer plating method with perfluorinated‐group‐containing triazine dithiol. The Metal mold treated by polymer plating had lower critical surface tension (7.5 mJ/m²) than Teflon (18 mJ/m²), indicating that the surface consisted of CF₃ ? groups. The treated mold showed excellent durability in its releasing properties, which was better than that of the untreated mold. This technique was developed for the production of molds for the Fθ lens and the naturally bright focusing screen. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2549–2556, 2003     

蒸汽加热变模温注射成型数值模拟与结果分析

采用Moldflow软件对变模温注射成型过程进行数值模拟。利用蒸汽加热和冷却水冷却的变模温注塑工艺,研究不同蒸汽加热时间下注塑位置处压力以及制件冷凝层的变化规律,同时分析了制件表面和模具型腔表面的热响应规律。结果表明,相比于传统注射成型工艺过程,变模温注射成型通过提高注塑充填过程中模具温度,使得制件冷凝层出现在充填阶段之后;随着模具加热时间从10、15、25 s增加到40 s,注塑位置处最大注射压力从87.0608、84.6064、79.6863 MPa减小到74.4342 MPa,大大提高了熔体注塑充填过程中的充填能力;通过不同的蒸汽加热时间,制件表面和模具型腔表面可以获得不同的温度值,同时通过模拟获得了传热系数对制件表面温度的影响。     

Effect of rapid mold surface inducting heating on the replication ability of microinjection molding light‐guided plates with V‐grooved microfeatures

This study applies a magnetic induction heating method for rapid and uniform heating of a mold surface for injection molding of 2‐inch light‐guided plates (LGPs). Mold temperature is an important process parameter that affects microinjection molding quality. This research investigates the effects of high‐mold surface temperature generated by induction heating in enhancing the replication rate of microfeatures of LGPs. This study has three stages. First, an appropriate power rate setting is determined for induction heating and injection molding process window. Second, all key parameters affecting microfeature quality are identified to determine the optimum LGP micromolding parameters using the Taguchi and ANOVA methods. Third, the quality of microfeature heights and angles are experimentally verified. Polymethyl methacrylate was molded under various injection molding conditions to replicate an electroformed nickel stamper with V‐grooves 10 μm in width and 5 μm in depth. In this investigation, injection speed was set in the conventional range. Experimental findings indicate that instead of high‐mold temperature, the combination of low mold temperature and high surface temperature obtained using induction heating improve replication quality and reduce cycle time. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Selective induction heating to eliminate the fundamental defects of thin‐walled moldings used in electrical industry

In the study, a new technology of selective induction heating of injection mold based on the introduction of temperature gradient in the area of one cavity is presented. Only those surfaces of the mold were subjected to heating that were responsible for creation of defects. With use of the ANSYS program the theoretical model and the simulations of induction heating of separated forming surface were developed. On the basis of simulation tests the mold was designed and created to produce the experimental molding part with the wall thickness of 0.4 mm. There were made two production series: in the conventional technology and with support of selective induction heating of the selected forming parts. The application of induction heating technology allowed to entirely eliminate the defects appeared during the production. The results showed that the shape and the localization of the induction coil have great influence on the time of heating. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44992.     

Vitrification,devitrification, and dielectric relaxations during the non‐isothermal curing of diepoxy‐cycloaliphatic diamine

The curing of an epoxy resin based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) with a diamine based on 4,4′‐diamino‐3,3′‐dimethyldicyclohexylmethane (3DCM) was analyzed by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) between ?100 and 220°C, at heating rates ranging from 0.1 to 2 K min^?1. The permittivity, ε′, and the loss factor, ε″, were measured by DRS in the frequency range between 1 and 100 kHz. The dielectric relaxations were correlated with the relaxations observed previously by temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) at the same heating rates and in modulation conditions of amplitude 0.2 K and a period of 60 s, which is equivalent to a measuring frequency of 16.7 mHz. The dielectric measurements showed three frequency‐dependent dipolar relaxations and one ionic relaxation, which was independent of the frequency. The dipolar relaxations were associated with the glass transition of the unreacted system and the vitrification and the devitrification processes of the system during the crosslinking reaction, and the ionic relaxation was associated with the beginning of the crosslinking reaction. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 558–563, 2006