doi: 10.3850/978-981-11-0749-8_689
Accurate Validation of Micro Injection Moulding Process for Manufacturing a Thin-wall Micro Part Based on Moldex3D
Quanliang Su1, Nan Zhang1,2, Neal Symms3 and Michael D. Gilchrist1
1School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
2Center of MicroNano Manufacturing Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
3S4innovation Limited-Reseller for CoreTech System Co., Ltd. (Moldex3D), Tamworth, Staffordshire, UK
Abstract
Experiments and simulations on micro injection moulding ( µIM) of a thin wall micro part have been conducted. Simulations of µIM have been carried out using Moldex3D considering actual injection molding process. Factors influencing simulation accuracy were considered specifically: flow rate profile, packing pressure and time, injection machine parameters, mould geometry, melt and cooling temperature, solid mesh parameters. Four quality factors were chosen to evaluate simulation accuracy: flow front pattern, part mass, cavity pressure near gate and filling time. A boundary layer mesh was adapted to mesh a thin-wall micro part. Actual experiments were calibrated to achieve accurate implementation of the simulation. Uncertainty in experimental data was minimized in order to increase the accuracy of simulations. This work provided a reliable method for validating simulation accuracy of micro injection moulding of a thin wall part.
Keywords: Micro injection moulding, Process simulation, Moldex3D, Quantitative analysis.
