Study on the residual wall thickness at dimensional transitions and curved sections in gas‐assisted molded circular tubes

Plastic tubes and hollow rods can be fabricated using gas‐assisted injection molding technology with reduced cost. The residual wall thickness around dimensional transitions and curved sections is of great concern. This research investigated the uniformity of the residual wall thickness distribution in circular tubes with dimensional variations and curved sections. It was found that the wall thickness was not uniform near transitions. With the addition of fillets with proper angles around transitions, the uniformity of residual wall could be greatly improved. The residual wall thickness in curved sections was thick around the outer wall and thin around the inner wall. Low melt temperature and high gas pressure were found to reduce the deviation in the wall thickness around curved sections.     

工艺参数对水辅注塑弯管壁厚的影响

利用华南理工大学自主研发的注水系统和水辅注塑弯管模具,研究了熔体温度、模具温度、注水延迟时间、熔体注射量、注水压力、注水温度、熔体注射速率和熔体注射压力等8个水辅成型主要工艺参数对聚丙烯制品壁厚偏差率的影响,并分析了影响机理。结果表明,部分工艺参数对于制品弯曲段的壁厚偏差率有影响;增加注水延迟时间,降低注水压力和模具温度,短射填充区的制品壁厚的偏差率有所减小;提高熔体温度,壁厚偏差率的波动幅度增大。     

Approximate prediction of gas core geometry in gas assisted injection molding using a short cut method

A relatively cheap, short cut method for prediction of the form and location of the gas core, and the residual plastic wall thickness in gas assisted injection molding (GAIM) is described. The basis is a steady state, single phase solution for flow of the polymer melt through the channel of interest, without the need to model the gas penetration. The gas‐polymer interface position is predicted by an appropriately chosen isovel of the flow. For a prismatic or slowly varying channel, only a two‐dimensional developed flow solution is required. For more sharply varying cross sections, and where bends are present, a steady three‐dimensional (3D) solution is necessary. When a gas delay is used, during which polymer cools to the cavity walls, a solution for transient conduction in the static melt is carried out before the flow solution. By comparisons with the results of full 3D, transient, two‐phase simulations of GAIM, and with experimental results, the short cut method is shown to provide reasonable approximations, and in contrast to other currently used approximate methods, captures thickness variations around the circumference of noncircular channels. The asymmetric gas core location in bends is reproduced, as is the increased plastic wall thickness resulting from cooling during a gas delay. While the full analysis will still be required for complex parts and when high accuracy is required, the described short cut method is likely to prove useful in many other cases. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:713–720, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Residual wall thickness of water‐powered projectile‐assisted injection molding pipes

Water‐powered projectile‐assisted injection molding (W‐PAIM) is an innovative molding process for the production of hollow shaped polymer parts. The W‐PAIM utilizes high pressure water as a power to drive a solid projectile to displace the molten polymer core to form the hollow space. The residual wall thickness (RWT) and its distribution are the important quality criteria. The experimental and numerical investigations were conducted. Experimental specimens showed that the RWT of a W‐PAIM pipe was much thinner than that of a water‐assisted injection molding pipe. The cross‐section size of the projectile defined the basic penetration section size. The software FLUENT was used to obtain the instantaneous distributions of the flow field, which revealed the forming mechanism of the RWT. The experiments indicated that the processing parameters, such as melt temperature, melt injection pressure, mold temperature, and water injection delay time had obvious effects on the RWT, while the water pressure had little effect on it. The RWT of curved pipes was thin at the inner concave side while thick at the outer convex side. The RWTs at the bend portion are influenced by the deflection angle and bending radius, which is due to the pressure difference between the two sides. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:295–303, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Numerical simulation on residual thickness of pipes with curved sections in water‐assisted co‐injection molding

The residual thicknesses of the skin and the inner layers are important quality indicators of water‐assisted co‐injection molding (WACIM) process or overflow WACIM (O‐WACIM) parts. At the curved section, the residual thicknesses change significantly. A numerical simulation program based on the computational fluid dynamics method was developed to simulate the O‐WACIM process. After the numerical simulation program was validated with the experimental results, it was used to study the effects of the bending radii and bending angles on the residual thicknesses of the skin and inner layers of O‐WACIM parts. The results showed that the penetration of the inner melt and water was always close to the inner concave side due to the higher local pressure gradient and temperature. The effects of processing parameters on the residual thicknesses of the skin and inner layers were investigated using the orthogonal simulation method. It was found that the residual thicknesses of the skin/inner layer at the inner concave/outer convex side are mainly influenced by different parameters. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42468.     

水辅助注塑制品残留壁厚和穿透长度影响因素的研究

为能水辅助注塑成型壁厚较小且较均匀的聚丙烯弯管,设计了一种自锁式喷嘴,既满足高流量的要求,又可防止熔体堵塞喷嘴。在相同的工艺条件下,分别使用自锁式喷嘴和孔形喷嘴,对成型的弯管壁厚进行比较,结果表明:与孔形喷嘴相比,使用自锁式喷嘴时制品的残留壁厚更小更均匀。此外,使用该自锁式喷嘴,研究了水辅助注塑中注水压力和延迟时间对制品残留壁厚和水穿透长度的影响.     

不同水针口径下的水辅助注射成型数值模拟

使用流体力学软件,对使用溢流法的三维120 °~150 °弯曲圆管件进行了水辅助注射成型可视化研究。分别改变水针口径尺寸、注水延迟时间、注水压力与熔体温度,分析其对制件内部水穿透行为的影响。结果表明,水针口直径为7 mm时,能显著增加制件的内部穿透长度并得到残余壁厚更薄的制件;受水针结构影响,注水延迟时间为1 s、注水压力为8 MPa、熔体温度为250 ℃时,水穿透长度最优能增长400 %,壁厚减少20 %;在注水延迟时间为1 s、注水压力为10 MPa、熔体温度为230 ℃时,穿透长度最大达到298 mm;注水延迟时间为1 s、注水压力为8 MPa、熔体温度为250 ℃时,比熔体温度为210 ℃和230 ℃的实验组受水针影响严重;缩短注水延迟时间、增加注水压力、升高熔体温度都能有效增大制件的中空率,成型出更薄的管件,但是水针对水辅助注射成型的影响不容忽视,其微小变化能极大地改变成型制件的内部型腔,有效提高水穿透行为的效率。     

注水参数对水辅助注射成型充填过程影响的数值模拟

建立水辅助注射成型二维、瞬态、非定常流动模型,采用黏度幂律模型,在k ω湍流模型下,充分考虑注射水的湍流特性以及熔体前沿的喷注效应,采用有限体积法（VOF）对充填过程中的注水速度、注水温度和注水延迟时间等注水控制参数的影响进行数值模拟。结果表明,注水速度的增加会增加水在熔体中的穿透长度,并且会减小残余壁厚;注水温度对水的穿透长度和残余壁厚的影响均不显著;随着注水延迟时间的增长,水的穿透长度和残余壁厚均有增加的趋势。     

管壁厚度对微挤出成型的影响分析

基于Bird-Carreau黏度模型,运用有限元方法对三维等温微管挤出成型流动模型进行了数值分析,主要研究了管壁厚度对微管挤出成型过程中挤出胀大、速度分布、剪切速率和口模压降等重要指标的影响。结果表明,当熔体入口体积流率相等时,随着管壁厚度的增大,挤出物挤出胀大率和横截面尺寸变化量增大;口模出口端面上熔体的二次流动增强,但挤出速度和剪切速率减小;熔体在口模内的压力降明显下降;适当增加管壁厚度,有利于提高微管挤出质量。     

水辅助共注塑弯管壁厚的实验分析

利用装配有自主设计的注水装置的共注塑机对水辅助共注塑（WACIM）弯管的壁厚分布进行了实验与分析。结果表明,溢流法WACIM弯管弯曲外侧的总壁厚及内层壁厚都较厚,而弯曲内侧的总壁厚及内层壁厚均较薄;短射法WACIM弯管的总平均壁厚及内层平均壁厚均比溢流法更薄,后段弯曲处外侧的总壁厚及内层壁厚比溢流法显著更薄;随着弯曲角度的增加,弯曲外侧的总壁厚及内层壁厚增加,内侧的总壁厚及内层壁厚减小。     

Primary and secondary gas penetration during gas‐assisted injection molding. Part II: Simulation and experiment

Simulation and experimental studies have been carried out on the transient gas‐liquid interface development and gas penetration behavior during the cavity filling and gas packing stage in the gas‐assisted injection molding of a spiral tube cavity. The evolution of the gas/melt interface and the distribution of the residual wall thickness of skin melt along with the advancement of gas/melt front were investigated. Numerical simulations were implemented on a fixed mesh covering the entire cavity. The residual thickness of a polymer layer and the length of gas penetration in the moldings were calculated using both the simulation and model developed in Part I of this study and commercial software (C‐Mold). Extensive molding experiments were performed on polystyrene at different processing conditions. The obtained results on the gas bubble dynamics and penetration behaviors were compared with those predicted by the present simulation and C‐Mold, indicating the good predictive capability of the proposed model. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:992–1002, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Real time diagnostics of gas/water assisted injection moulding using integrated ultrasonic sensors

Abstract

An ultrasound sensor system has been applied to the mould of both the water and gas assisted injection moulding processes. The mould has a cavity wall mounted pressure sensor and instrumentation to monitor the injection moulding machine. Two ultrasound sensors are used to monitor the arrival of the fluid (gas or water) bubble tip through the detection of reflected ultrasound energy from the fluid polymer boundary and the fluid bubble tip velocity through the polymer melt is estimated. The polymer contact with the cavity wall is observed through the reflected ultrasound energy from that boundary. A theoretically based estimation of the residual wall thickness is made using the ultrasound reflection from the fluid (gas or water) polymer boundary while the samples are still inside the mould and a good correlation with a physical measurement is observed.     

水辅与气辅成型残余壁厚的对比研究

在实验的基础上,首先分析了水辅注射成型与气辅注射成型的特点,并从机理上分析了水辅成型和气辅成型制件残余壁厚的形成,进而对比分析了水辅及气辅成型制件残余壁厚的大小。结果表明,对于具有流动方向偏转结构的模具,水辅成型制件的壁厚均匀性优于气辅成型制件;水辅成型更易于生产截面为圆形的制件。     

Three‐dimensional nonisothermal simulation of a coat hanger die

We studied the nonisothermal flow of Carreau fluid in a coat hanger die. A general three‐dimensional finite volume code was developed for the purpose of flow analysis. The pressure distribution and velocity distribution were obtained in addition to the temperature distribution. The results illustrated that the highest temperature occurred more by the center of manifold than by the die‐lip region. In the regions where the die gap was small relatively, the wall temperature played a key role in the determination of the temperature distribution in the melt. However, in the manifold, the viscous dissipation was the key factor that determined the temperature distribution in the melt where the heat conduction was relatively poor because of the thicker gap. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101:2911–2918, 2006     

Residual film thickness following immiscible fluid displacement in noncircular microchannels at large capillary number

An experimental study of the displacement of one immiscible fluid by another was performed in microchannels with circular, square and near‐semicircular cross‐sections, with hydraulic diameters from 100 to 200 μm. Experiments were performed over a range of capillary number, Ca, from 0.02 < Ca < 80, with viscosity ratios between the two fluids ranging from 20 to 100. The liquid film left on the channel wall following the advance of the displacing fluid was obtained from visual measurements and a method for the estimation of mean film thickness was shown to be in good agreement with existing correlations. The addition of a surfactant (Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate, SDS) dissolved in the displacing fluid led to a reduction in the thickness of the residual film. © 2018 The Authors AIChE Journal published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3456–3466, 2018     

工艺参数对聚丙烯/聚酰胺6共混物水辅助共注塑管件壁厚及性能的影响

基于自行搭建的水辅助共注塑实验平台,通过正交实验制备了系列水辅助共注塑管件,探究工艺参数对各层壁厚、拉伸性能及各相结晶的影响。结果表明,外层壁厚随着外层熔体温度、注水压力、内层熔体注射压力、模具温度增大而逐渐减小,随着熔体注射切换延迟时间、注水延迟时间增大而逐渐增大;内层壁厚随着注水延迟时间、内层熔体注射压力增大而逐渐增大,随着注水压力、模具温度增大而逐渐减小;管件拉伸强度随着外层熔体温度增大而逐渐减小,随着熔体注射切换延迟时间、注水延迟时间增大而逐渐增大;工艺参数会影响到成型壁厚及冷却进程,进而影响各相结晶度,最终影响管件性能。     

气辅注射成型工艺参数对气体穿透行为的影响

考察了气辅注射成型工艺参数(延迟时间、气体压力、熔体温度、预注射量)对气体穿透行为的影响。研究表明,延迟时间越短、熔体温度越高,残余壁厚越小。另外,预注射量、延迟时间和熔体温度对穿透长度的影响最为显著,即预注射量越大、延迟时间越短、熔体温度越低,穿透长度越长。结合此前研究者的数值模拟结果可以看出,残余壁厚率与通过数值方法得到的结果是较为一致的.     

Effect of wall slip on blown film thickness distribution

One of the most important materials for blown film is high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) with wide molecular weight distribution. First, we computed a wall stress at the entrance of a spiral groove in a particular die during blown film processing on a particular condition, to which a similar condition is widely utilized in a film works. The computed value is about 170 kPa, while the HDPE melt slips at die wall at stresses above approximately 50 kPa. The stress of 170 kPa is sufficiently large for the slip occurrence of the melt. Then, we investigated the effects of wall slip and melt visosity on film thickness distribution in the circumferential direction; the distribution tends to decrease with decreasing wall slip and melt viscosity. This tendency is explained by considering flow distribution in a spiral mandrel die and polymer melt flow characteristics.     

气体辅助注射成型中气道截面对气体穿透的影响

将各种不同气道截面等效于圆形,引入形状因子来衡量它们偏离圆形的程度。利用moldflow软件对气体在不同构型气道内的穿透过程进行了数值模拟。结果表明:形状因子越大则气体穿透深度越大,对气体辅助注射成型有利。但由于形状因子越大则气道截面偏离圆形越远,不利于形成均匀的熔体壁厚,因此在设计气道截面时,应合理选择形状因子以便获得恰当的气体穿透深度和熔体壁厚。最后还给出了气道设计的一般原则。     

Experimental study on the penetration interfaces of pipes with different cross‐sections in overflow water‐assisted coinjection molding

The residual wall thicknesses (RWT) of the skin and the inner layers are important quality indicators of water‐assisted co‐injection molding (WACIM) parts. The influences of the shape of the cavity cross section and the processing parameters, including the water pressure, water delay time, inner melt temperature, and inner melt flow rate, on the penetration of the inner melt and water were explored via experiments. The results showed that the shape of the penetration section of the inner melt was closer to the cavity section with round corners, while that of the water ended up being round. Both the penetration ratios of the inner melt and the water increased proportionally with increasing circle ratio. Both the minimum values of the total RWT and the inner melt RWT increased with increasing circle ratio. Both the maximum values of the total RWT and the inner melt RWT increased with increasing Max_D, which is the maximum distance between the inscribed circle center and the wall. Both the penetration ratios of the inner melt and the water increased with increasing water pressure, decreased with increasing water delay time, and increased with increasing inner melt flow rate and increasing inner melt temperature. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 132, 42866.