Optimum cooling channels design and thermal analysis of an Injection moulded plastic part mould

摘要

Cooling channel design is important in mould designs to achieve shorter cycles, dimensional stability and reduced part stresses. Traditionally, cooling channels have been machined into mould components to avoid interference with the ejection system, coring, cavity and other mould details. Over the years straight drilled cooling channels have given away, in part, to conformal cooling technique often using free form fabrication techniques. This paper presents a study of optimised mould design with conformal cooling channel using finite element analysis. Various configurations of conformal cooling channels have been developed. The part cooling time using the conformal cooling channels and the straight cooling channels in the mould are computed using the Pro/Mechanica Thermal FEA software. Results are presented based on temperature distribution and cooling time using steady state and transient analysis conditions. The results show a reduction in cycle time for the plastic part with conformal cooling channel design.