| Abstract: | An experimental program has been carried out on a reciprocating screw injection molding machine in order to establish the validity of a proposed mathematical model for the filling stage of injection molding. A cavity of complex shape with an insert and variable thickness was constructed and used in these experiments. Good agreement between predicted (through computer simulation) and observed (through short-shot experiments and transducer response) results is obtained for free surface shapes and free surface locations with time. The theoretical pressure predictions are in fairly good agreement with experiments, with the maximum deviations occurring towards the end of filling and for longer filling times. This points towards the possibility that wall solidification during filling interacts with the flow processes across the gap of the cavity and makes necessary a more detailed characterization of the heat transfer at the melt/mold interface. |
