Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

2006

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Warpage is one of the most common defects of a plastic product in the polymer injection molding process. It is attributed to the differential shrinkage after the part is ejected from the die cavity due to the nonlinear material property of the polymer, improper design of the cooling system, geometry of the part and the related process parameters. In this paper, the warpage formation of a plastic part in the cooling stage of the polymer injection molding process was simulated by using finite element analysis (FEA). A three-dimensional FEA model for a nonlinear polymer material (polypropylene copolymer) with a thermal-structural sequential coupled approach was developed. The effects of mold close time and layout of cooling system on the dimension and shape of a part were investigated. Industrial experiments for the different mold closing time (t = 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s) were conducted. The simulation results were compared with the experimental results. The sequential coupled approach is effective in predicting warpage in polymer injection molding process.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Injection molding of plastics

Plastics -- Defects -- Computer simulation

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

88

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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