SIMULATION OF COOLING USING A NEW MODEL FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE THERMAL DIFFUSIVITY IN INJECTION MOLDING BY MEANS OF THE RADIAL FUNCTION METHOD (RFM)

摘要

A numerical simulation using the radial function method is developed to describe the cooling of an injection molded slit with an improved thermal diffusivity model that considers the effect of different cooling rates across the thickness and the cavity pressure. A semicrystalline polymer is considered. The solution encompasses both the filling and cooling phases. For the filling phase the fountain flow effect is taken in account. Numerical results are analyzed by examining the effects of a traditional and improved mathematical model for the description of the thermal diffusivity. The predicted effect agrees well with previous measured data under given processing conditions. The difference of the predicted temperature development between the traditional and the new model for diffusivity is independent of the thickness of the slit.