J Polym Eng 31 (2011): 549560 2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston. DOI 10.1515/POLYENG.2011.

097

An effective approach to measuring real-time mold deection during injection molding

Chung-Ching Huang*, Thanh-Cong Truong and Shen-Hong Chen

Mold and Die Engineering Department, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, 415 Chien-Kun Road, Kaohsiung City, 807, Taiwan, e-mail: cchuang@cc.kuas.edu.tw
*Corresponding author

Abstract
This study develops an effective approach to measure real-time mold plate exion, namely a displacement of a cavity plate. A mold-lling program was used to simulate the injection molding process. The predicted cavity pressure was then applied as an input for the subsequent mold deection analysis. In this work, an amorphous polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was injection-molded into a 6-inch light guide plate (LGP) cavity, with cavity plate thicknesses of 35 mm, 55 mm, and 100 mm. To validate the predicted mold deection, an inductive displacement sensor was placed underneath the cavity plate, and experiments were conducted using process variables identical to those of the simulation. Comparison between the simulated results and the experimental data shows that when the cavity plate thickness is reduced, the mold deformation increases signicantly, and results in an increase in part thickness. In addition, an increase in packing pressure caused a rise in mold deformation. This study demonstrates that the proposed approach is able to measure the mold deection. Keywords: injection molding; light guide plate; mold deformation.

1. Introduction
Telecommunications and computer industries drive thinwalled molding technology. Portable electronics such as laptop computers and cellphones, are more aesthetically pleasing when they are thinner. The thinner walls provide weight reduction and more space for the assembly of the electronic components [1]. Thin-walled injection molding requires high injection speed during the lling stage and high holding pressure during the packing/holding stage. Cavity pressure during the lling and packing stages can cause the mold to deect signicantly from its intended conguration. This mold deection leads to an increase in cavity thickness, resulting in over-packing and a modication in the pressure history. The mold deformation can be classied into three elastic deformation modes [2]. In the rst mode, it opens at the parting plane due to insufcient clamping force. Occasionally,

mold opening can reach several tens of micrometers (m) without visible mold ashing. However, it usually generates higher residual stresses at the edge of the product [3]. The second mode presents when the steel of the mold is not perfectly rigid and steel compression can occur under polymer pressure, which results in an increase in cavity volume. In the last mode, an internal exion of mold plate elements causes the cavity to inate. Based on these three main modes, various studies attempted to understand how the mold deforms, its inuence on molding history and its inuence on part quality. Chen et al. [4] focused on the characteristics of mold opening and found that the packing pressure signicantly inuences these characteristics. He also discovered that mold temperature, melt temperature, and later, switchover inuence mold separation. As a result, the thickness and weight of the part increased slightly. Pantani et al. [5] experimented with variations in controlled holding pressure, high enough to inuence mold deformation. He identied that a rigid mold can lead to predicted values of post-lling pressure proles that are different from experimental proles. Using a theoretical simulation of mold deformation, Delaunay et al. [6] performed a simple theoretical thermoelastic calculation of over-packed polymer plates to determine mold deformation locally. His work showed that negative shrinkage and pressure history inside the mold cavity was altered by mold deformation. Baaijens [7] and Boitout et al. [8] used injection simulations to compute uniform variable rigidity of the mold and show the inuence of mold rigidity on pressure decay and consequently on stress prole distribution. Wu and Huang [9] performed a quantitative analysis of the mold deformation using a strain gauge. They focused on cavity compression under polymer pressure and clamping force, and discovered that the main cavity deformation occurs along the thickness direction. They found that the compressive strain increases with packing pressure and does not change with clamping force and that the mold cavity can be signicantly deformed due to exion of the cavity plate with internal polymer pressure. Leo and Cuvelliez [10] quantied the inuence of two last modes with strain gauges, even for seemingly stiff mold construction. They found that all mold deformation modes produce an increase in the cavity volume. As a result, more polymer enters the cavity before gate freezing and induces lower pressure decay, which can cause polymer over-packing. The injection mold and injection molding machine can be deformed to eliminate high stress levels that can develop in the mold during molding cycle. Thus, the machine compliance, which is the twisting of the global machine, has a considerable inuence on mold deformation and affects the overall quality of the molded part [11]. The quantitative analysis using the strain gauge, measures the strain deformation values of the cavity plate. However, the

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C.-C. Huang et al.: Mold deection during injection molding

increase of cavity thickness under internal pressure correlates with the local displacement of the cavity plate [12]. Thus, the strain gauge is limited to directly measuring the local displacement of the exion of the cavity plate. In response, this study develops an effective approach to online measurement of the local displacement of the cavity plate along the part thickness direction. It monitors the varying exion of the cavity plate in real time. The evaluating process of the mold deection is shown in Figure 1. Firstly, a mold-lling program was implemented to obtain the molding information. Then, the predicted cavity pressure as a boundary condition was imported into a structural analysis. As preparation for the experiment, a xture to install the displacement sensor was designed. The predicted local displacement values were compared with local displacement measured by the inductive displacement sensor, which was installed underneath the cavity plate in positions which offered maximum deection values. The inuence of the mold deformation on residual stress and part thickness was also considered.

slab 122.291.51 mm3, and a gate through an end fan-gate of 0.8 mm as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The cavity plate (Block B) used three different thicknesses: 100 mm, 55 mm, and 35 mm. Two PRIAMUS 6100B (Uniplast Corporation, Taipei City, Taiwan) piezoelectric pressure transducers were installed in the mold at two locations; one at 30.5 mm (neargate) and one at 61 mm (far-gate) as shown in Figure 2.
2.2. Material and injection conditions

2. Theoretical analysis and experimental method

2.1. Mold

The mold system consisted of a two-plate mold base, including a mold cavity, a 6 inch light guide plate (LGP) rectangle

Optical grade polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) from Kuraray: GH1000S (Japan), was used for the study. The mold plate and insert were made of S55C (Taiwan). The Youngs modulus and Poissons ratios were similar at 205 GPa, and 0.3, respectively. The machine platens were made of cast iron. The Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio were 140 GPa, and 0.3, respectively. Table 1 summarizes the mold material properties. Injection molding experiments were performed by an ARBURG (C&F International Corp, Taipei City, Taiwan) 60 metric ton hydraulic injection molding machine (320C/600250) with a 35 mm diameter barrel. Melt pressure and temperature were measured in the nozzle. The experiments were conducted at a melt temperature of 260C a coolant temperature of 40C, an injection speed of 100 mm/s, three packing

Post-filling analysis (moldflow) Predicted cavity pressure 4 66 Structural analysis (ANSYS) Predicted mold deformation 1 Design cavity plate Design and manufacture fixture for displacement sensor 61 Pressure transducer position 0 30.5

Unit: mm 40.5 0

Figure 2 LGP part and positions of pressure transducers.

Injection-molding experiments (ARBURG 320C/600-250) Measured cavity pressure Measured mold deformation

Injection-molded part examination Thickness distribution Residual stress Poor quality Good quality Conclusion

Figure 1

Study progress owchart.

Figure 3 Two-plate mold base system, including the part cavity.

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Table 1

List of properties of materials. Materials Youngs Poissons modulus (Gpa) ratio 0.3 0.3
Thickness 100 mm Thickness 55 mm Thickness 35 mm Cavity plate

Mold system S55C (1055) 205 Machine movable platen Cast iron 140

Table 2

List of processing conditions. Melt temperature (C) 260 260 260 Injection speed (mm/s) 100 100 100 Packing pressure (MPa) 37 45 54 Packing time (s) 5 5 5

Mold temperature (C) 40 40 40

Figure 5 Cavity-plate thickness models in the structural analysis program.

pressures of 37 MPa, 45 MPa, 54 MPa, a packing time of 5 s and a cooling time of 35 s. Table 2 summarizes the presented processing conditions.
2.3. Simulation

Cavity pressure constitutes the mechanical loading of the mold during the injection molding process. The cavity pressure as a boundary condition of the structural analysis was predicted using MoldFlow (Autodesk Inc, Taipei City, Taiwan). This pressure was applied to mold faces for the quasi-static deformation analysis. The parameters of the ARBURG 320/600-250 injection molding machine were entered in the mold-lling analysis. A structural model was used to predict the elastic mold deformation: a mold-only model. Many machine components were replaced with boundary conditions to minimize the simulation size, which in sequence reduced the computational time. The boundary conditions for the mold-only model are illustrated in Figure 4. The back face of the top clamping plate on the xed side was constrained in all directions to simulate the exion of the cavity plate, and the effect of the xed platen that was not included in the model. The tie rods were modeled as a displacement constraint on the ejector platen in the

in-plane directions. Contact was dened between the xed and movable halves at the parting surface, and between the cavity plate and its mold base on the mobile half. Tied contact was specied between the mold base and the movable platen at the locations of clamps, mounting the base to the platen. The mold cavity pressure was a traction boundary condition applied to the ANSYS model. The half symmetry model was used in the numerical analysis because of the symmetry of the components, the displacement boundary conditions, and the cavity and clamping pressures. The S on the boundaries of the model in Figure 4 denotes the symmetry surfaces on which all displacement in the 1-direction was constrained to zero. The model used 3D 20-node, structural, solid elements and linear elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material for each part in the assembly. The simulation analyses were performed with a total of nine cases corresponding to three different cavity plate thicknesses in Figure 5, and three different applied packing pressures.
2.4. Experiments

All local exions of the cavity plate predicted in ANSYS were validated by experiments in the ARBURG 320/600-250 injection molding machine. The elastic deection of the cavity plate

Y Z x

No in-plane motion

S Sx Y Z Mold cavity pressure Core plate

Fixed

Clamping pressure

Figure 4

Mold-only model with boundary conditions used in the structural analysis program.
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C.-C. Huang et al.: Mold deection during injection molding

Displacement sensor installed position

Guides U shaped x 2

Displacement sensor installed position

Ball plunger Slider 1

Ball plunger Slider 2

Figure 6

Fixture for the positions of the inductive displacement sensor.

induced by a 6-inch LGP in this machine, was experimentally measured using the inductive displacement sensor installed in a xture (Figure 6), during an injection cycle. The displacement sensor was placed underneath the cavity plate where the maximum elastic deformation was anticipated (Figure 7). The parameters used for the verication of experiments were identical to those used as input for simulations. To ensure identical operating conditions for each experimental run, the mold and plasticizer temperature were allowed to recover for 15 min after each set of process conditions. A hand-held thermocouple was used to verify uniform mold surface temperature before each shot. Ten shots were made to verify that the injection molding process was stable. If no signicant variation arose during the 10 runs, the next 10 shots could be collected.

plate deection during the molding process, as well as the inuence of the mold deformation on the cavity pressure history, the dimensions, and residual stresses of injectionmolded parts.
3.1. Deformation of mold

3. Results and discussion

The processing conditions used to evaluate the exion of the cavity plate with three different cavity thicknesses of 100 mm, 55 mm, and 35 mm, were: three packing pressures of 37 MPa, 45 MPa and 54 MPa, respectively, a packing time of 5 s, a melt temperature of 260C, a coolant temperature of 40C, an injection velocity of 100 mm/s, and a cooling time of 35 s. The comparison between the numerical analysis results and the experimental data show the cavity
Z

Y X

Y X 3

86 0 22

1 5 0

56

Figure 7

Positions of the inductive displacement sensor.

The mold is generally complex in its geometry. The mold deection is strictly related to how the mold is made. Determining its value is interesting, not only in relation to the cavity pressure, but also to mold geometry. The predicted mold deection was simulated on a structural analysis tool (ANSYS), using the obtained cavity pressure that was simulated on commercial software (MoldFlow). The numerical mold deformation achieved maximum value (Figure 8B) for a thin cavity plate (35 mm) and applied a packing pressure of 54 MPa. The mold may separate if the cavity is not in the center of the mold. The simulated mold deection values at each measurement point were signicantly different (Figure 9) in the 55 mm and 35 mm experiments. The cavity plate was deformed dramatically at position 1 as a gate location. The exion deformation was reduced at position 2, because of preventative support blocks, it was reduced at position 3 where internal pressure was not applied and at position 5 where the ow ends and there was low cavity pressure. Position 1 is, therefore, the optimal point at which to obtain maximum mold deection. The mold deformation values were slightly different at all points with all packing pressures, for the cavity thickness of 100 mm in Figure 9, because this cavity plate was highly rigid. To validate the numerical results, an experimental series was conducted to measure the mold deection at all measurement points, by the displacement sensor. The displacement sensor was set to zero before beginning the injection molding process. The exion deformation was monitored in real time (Figure 10) and reached its maximum values at 2.22.4 s during the injection cycle time, in all cases. The deformed cavity plate permitted more polymer melt to enter the cavity during the post-lling phase. Consequently, the mold deformation was still maintained until the mold was opened, thus the quality of the injection-molded part was signicantly modied. During the mold deection monitoring, mold relaxation was

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C.-C. Huang et al.: Mold deection during injection molding

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A
1 Nodal solution Step=1 Sub=1 Time=1 UZ (avg) RSYS=0 DMX=.045196 SMN=-045099 SMX=.038311

B
1 Nodal solution Step=1 Sub=1 Time=1 UZ (avg) RSYS=0 DMX=.280816 SMN=-.280769 SMX=.029492

Z Y X MN

Z Y X

MN

MX

MX

-.045099

-.035831 -.026564-.017296 -.008028 .00124 .010508 .019776 .029044 .038311

-.280769

-.246296

-.211822

-.004982 .029492 -.177349-.142875 -.108402-.073929 -.039455

Figure 8 Simulated mold deformation with the applied packing pressure of 54 MPa: (A) the cavity plate thickness of 100 mm; (B) the cavity plate thickness of 35 mm.

also clearly detected with a thickness of 35 mm. The exion deformation reduced and reached a stable state at 9 s at measurement point 1, and at 4.5 s at point 5, but it did not reach this state at point 3. Figure 11 compares the simulation results and the measured data of the mold deection. The exion deformation tended to increase with a decrease in the cavity thickness and an increase in the packing pressure. The mold deection varied highly (Figures 10 and 11) with the cavity plate thickness. Thus, the mold strength is a signicant factor in inuencing the mold deformation. The error between numerical and experimental results is about 1530% for the two thicker cavity plates. This is because the mold-lling analysis did not take the mold deformation into account to estimate the internal pressure history, and the structural analysis only used the maximum cavity pressure to calculate the exion of the cavity plate. The error increased signicantly for the thinnest cavity plate, because the mold separated.

3.2. Cavity pressure

The mold deformation affected the cavity pressure. The three different packing pressures and three different thicknesses of the cavity plate were analyzed to get the results. The cavity pressure was obtained by the pressure transducers in a simulated and experimental analysis. The cavity pressure history is also presented in Figures 1214. Figure 12 shows that the cavity pressure it traces is obtained by simulation and experimental analysis with a packing pressure of 37 MPa. The numerical internal pressure was predicted to be 36 MPa at the near gate and 28 MPa at the far gate by MoldFlow (Figure 12A). Although there was a packing time of 5 s, the predicted cavity pressure dropped to zero at 1.52 s for the rst cavity pressure sensor and 0.51.3 s for the second one. The packing pressure was set at 37 MPa and the three different thicknesses of cavity plate were used to conduct

Mold deflection (mm)

0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00

Mold deflection (mm)

t: cavity thickness

p=37 MPa

t: cavity thickness 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00

p=45 MPa

t100 t55 1 2 3 5 Measurement positions t35

t100 t55 1 2 3 5 Measurement positions t35

Mold deflection (mm)

t: cavity thickness 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00

p=54 MPa

t100 t55 1 2 3 5 Measurement positions t35

Figure 9 Comparison mold deformation levels corresponding to three different cavity plate thicknesses for applied packing pressures of 37 MPa, 45 MPa, and 54 MPa.
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Measurement position 1 0.6 Mold deflection (mm) Mold deflection (mm) 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 1.85 3.7 5.55 7.4 9.25 11.1 12.95 14.8 16.65 18.5 20.35 22.2 24.05 25.9 27.75 29.6 31.45 0 35 mm 55 mm 100 mm 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05

Measurement position 2

35 mm 55 mm 100 mm

Cycle time (s) 0.025 Mold deflection (mm) 0.02 0.015 0.01 0.005 0 35 mm 55 mm 100 mm Measurement position 3 0.12 Mold deflection (mm) 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 2.15 4.3 6.45 8.6 10.75 12.9 15.05 17.2 19.35 21.5 23.65 25.8 27.95 30.1 32.25

0 1.9 3.8 5.7 7.6 9.5 11.4 13.3 15.2 17.1 19 20.9 22.8 24.7 26.6 28.5 30.4 Cycle time (s) Measurement position 5

35 mm 55 mm 100 mm

Cycle time (s)

Figure 10A Mold deformation histories at each of the measurement positions (1, 2, 3, and 5) for three different cavity plate thicknesses and applied packing pressure of 37 MPa.

Measurement position 1 0.6 Mold deflection (mm) Mold deflection (mm) 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 2.05 4.1 6.15 8.2 10.25 12.3 14.35 16.4 18.45 20.5 22.55 24.6 26.65 28.7 30.75 32.8 0 35 mm 55 mm 100 mm 0.3 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0

0 1.9 3.8 5.7 7.6 9.5 11.4 13.3 15.2 17.1 19 20.9 22.8 24.7 26.6 28.5 30.4 Cycle time (s)
Measurement position 2

35 mm 55 mm 100 mm

Cycle time (s) 0.025 Mold deflection (mm) 0.02 0.015 35 mm 0.01 0.005 0 55 mm 100 mm Measurement position 3 0.14 0.12 Mold deflection (mm) 0.1 0.08 35 mm 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 2.15 4.3 6.45 8.6 10.75 12.9 15.05 17.2 19.35 21.5 23.65 25.8 27.95 30.1 32.25 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 0 55 mm 100 mm Measurement position 5

Cycle time (s)

Figure 10B Mold deformation histories at each of the measurement positions (1, 2, 3, and 5) for three different cavity plate thicknesses and applied packing pressure of 45 MPa.
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0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 Cycle time (s) Cycle time (s)

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Measurement position 1 0.6 Mold deflection (mm) Mold deflection (mm) 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 2.35 4.7 7.05 9.4 11.75 14.1 16.45 18.8 21.15 23.5 25.85 28.2 30.55 32.9 0 35 mm 55 mm 100 mm 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0

Measurement position 2

35 mm 55 mm 100 mm

Cycle time (s) Measurement position 3 0.03 Mold deflection (mm) 0.02 0.02 35 mm 0.01 0.01 0 2.45 4.9 7.35 9.8 12.25 14.7 17.15 19.6 22.05 24.5 26.95 29.4 31.85 0.00 55 mm 100 mm Mold deflection (mm) 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 0 2.3 4.6 6.9

0 2.3 4.6 6.9 9.2 11.5 13.8 16.1 18.4 20.7 23.0 25.3 27.6 29.9 32.2 Cycle time (s) Measurement position 5 35 mm 55 mm 100 mm

Cycle time (s)

Figure 10C Mold deformation histories at each of the measurement positions (1, 2, 3, and 5) for three different cavity plate thicknesses and applied packing pressure of 54 MPa.

Measurement position 1

t: cavity thickness 0.60 Mold deflection (mm) 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 t100 t55 t35 Packing pressure 37 MPa

Simulation

Experiment 0.30 Mold deflection (mm) 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00

t: cavity thickness

9.2 11.5 13.8 16.1 18.4 20.7 23.0 25.3 27.6 29.9 32.2 Cycle time (s) Measurement position 2

Simulation

Experiment

t100 t55 t35 45 MPa

Measurement position 3

t100 t55 t35 54 MPa Packing pressure

t100 t55 t35 37 MPa

t100 t55 t35 45 MPa

Measurement position 5

t100 t55 t35 54 MPa

t: cavity thickness 0.06 Mold deflection (mm) 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.00 t100 t55 t35 Packing pressure 37 MPa

Simulation

Experiment 0.20 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00 Mold deflection (mm)

t: cavity thickness

Simulation

Experiment

t100 t55 t35 45 MPa

t100 t55 t35 54 MPa Packing pressure

t100 t55 t35 37 MPa

t100 t55 t35 45 MPa

t100 t55 t35 54 MPa

Figure 11 and 5).

Comparison between simulated results and experimental data of mold deformation at each of the measurement positions (1, 2, 3,

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A
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Cavity pressure (MPa)

Near gate

36

2 Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

28

Simulation result

B
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f f 5 10 15 20 25 30 0.9

Near gate

43

Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

27

Experimental data with thickness of 100 mm

C
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f Near gate f 5 10 15 20 25 Cycle time (s) 30 Far from gate 1.1 44

31

Experimental data with thickness of 55 mm

D
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f Near gate f 5 10 15 20 25 Cycle time (s) 30 0.7 44

Far from gate

33

Experimental data with thickness of 35 mm

Figure 12 The cavity pressure history in the simulation analysis and experiments for applied packing pressure of 37 MPa.

experiments. The measured cavity pressures were about 45 MPa (Figures 12BD), and maintained pressure until the mold opening. A difference in internal pressure between the two pressure sensors generally existed in all the experiments. There was also an additional discontinuity (a slight

jump in internal pressure) that seemed to originate from a mechanical effect due to the mold/plates elasticity [9]. The cavity thickness increased due to the mold deection. Consequently, more plastic molten could be forced into the cavity before complete gate solidication. The

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A
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Cavity pressure (MPa)

Near gate

45

2 Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

39

Simulation result

B
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f f 5 10 15 20 25 Cycle time (s) 30 1.2

Near gate

49

Far from gate

28

Experimental data with thickness of 100 mm

C
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f Near gate f 5 10 15 20 25 30 1.7 50

Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

32

Experimental data with thickness of 55 mm

D
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

Near gate f f 25 30 0.7

42

10

15

20

Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

36

Experimental data with thickness of 35 mm

Figure 13 The cavity pressure history in the simulation analysis and experiments for applied packing pressure of 45 MPa.

residual pressure was maintained during the post-lling phase, while the packing pressure was completely released after the gate closed. Using the injection mold system as a mathematical model of the Spring-Mass system, the

mold strength is spring stiffness, the mold deection is displacement and the mold recovery force notation is f. The recovery force reduced the decrease in the cavity plate thickness as shown in Figures 12BD.

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A
Cavity pressure (MPa) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Cavity pressure (MPa)

Near gate

52

2 Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

48

Simulation result

B
Cavity pressure (MPa) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f f 0 5 10 15 20 25 Cycle time (s) 30 1.4

Near gate

55

Far from gate

30

Experimental data with thickness of 100 mm

C
Cavity pressure (MPa) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

f Near gate f 5 10 15 20 25 30 2.3 57

Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

32

Experimental data with thickness of 55 mm

D
Cavity pressure (MPa) 50 40 30 20 10 0 0

Near gate

Far from gate

Recovery force (MPa)

Cavity pressure (MPa)

Near gate f 5 10 15 20 25 30 f 0.8

40

Cycle time (s)

Far from gate

37

Experimental data with thickness of 35 mm

Figure 14 The cavity pressure history in simulation analysis and experiments for applied packing pressure of 54 MPa.

Figures 13 and 14 show that the cavity pressure traces when the experiments are conducted at packing pressures of 45 MPa and 54 MPa. The packing pressure caused an increase in the internal pressure and the recovery force.

However, the difference in internal pressure between two pressure sensors was slight for the cavity thickness of 35 mm, as shown in Figures 13D and 14D. This was because the gate freeze-off time is similar to the part-solidication

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t=100 mm p=60%

t=55 mm

t=35 mm

p=70%

p=80%

Figure 17 Injection-molded part residual stress for all cases (t=cavity plate thickness; P=applied packing pressure). Figure 15 Ten points to examine thickness distribution of the LGP part.

time. The gate thickness was increased to close to that of the cavity thickness by the large exion deformation of the thin cavity plate (35 mm) at the measurement position 1 (Figure 11).
3.3. Effect of mold deformation on the nal dimensions of molded products

An external micrometer with a minimum reading of 1 m was used to measure the thickness of the molded part. The results of the examination are shown in 10 measured points in Figure 15. The thin plate deformation results in the most drastic increase in the cavity volume. Consequently, more polymers enter the cavity before gate solidication and can cause polymer over-packing (the part volume is greater than the empty cavity volume before ejection). As
t=100 mm
Gate 0.907 0.933 0.925 0.916 0.923 0.922 Gate 0.983 0.982 0.934 0.985 0.925 0.973

a consequence, the nal shrinkage can be negative. Figure 16 shows that injection-molded part expanded to its nal dimensions (larger than the cavity dimensions), when the mold was opened and the part ejected. Furthermore, the part thickness signicantly increased along the middle of the ow path, because the cavity was obviously deformed more in the middle region. The thickness of molded part was greater than the cavity thickness (1 mm) with the mold deformation. However, the cavity plate deformed slightly with the cavity plate thickness of 100 mm and the packing pressure at 37 MPa. It resulted in part thickness thinner than 1 mm. The molten polymer inside the core part shrinks without compensation. The thin gate freezes off soon due to thermal sealing. The liquid will undergo a high shrinkage during the phase change with insufcient compensation, permitting total volumetric contraction and thinner thickness. The part thickness will increase with the higher packing pressure, due to the negative shrinkage and the mold separation.
t=55 mm
Gate 1.034 1.032 1.027 1.025 Gate 1.073 1.066 0.995 1.196 0.974 1.115

t=35 mm
Gate 1.384 1.453 1.462 1.382 Gate 1.492 1.608 1.012 1.332 1.624 1.555 Gate 1.552 1.688 1.185 1.437 1.724 Max 1.663 1.476 1.391 1.242 1.132

p=60%

0.914 0.958

0.932 0.973 0.992

0.984 0.996

0.994 1.008

1.157 1.218

1.183 1.242

p=70%

0.968

0.981 0.991 Gate 1.018 1.018

1.004 1.006 1.138

1.065 1.070 Gate 1.223 1.222

0.971 0.984

1.005 1.005 1.027

1.014 1.148

1.307 1.293

1.353 1.322

p=80%

0.992

1.020 1.029

1.175

1.234 1.245

1.002

1.038

1.181

1.192

1.403

1.454

Figure 16 pressure).

Injection-molded part thickness distribution at 10 examined points for all cases (t=cavity plate thickness; P=applied packing

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560

C.-C. Huang et al.: Mold deection during injection molding

3.4. Effect of mold deformation on the residual stress of nal products

Excessive internal pressure is the main cause of residual stress. The signal roughly followed the cavity pressure traces, which showed the usual increase, excessive, at the adjacent region of gate. The residual stress is assessed by strain viewer. Figure 17 shows the results of residual stress for all cases. The excessive cavity pressures obtained both high values (closer to the gate) and low values (far from the gate), as shown in red numbers in Figure 17. The residual stress also increased with higher applied packing pressure; however, the thin cavity plate gave completely different results. The residual stress decreased with higher applied packing pressure. Residual stress decays signicantly due to the compression phenomenon of elastic mold deformation relaxation. The mold relaxation causes the recovery force, which impacts on the plastic melt inner injection-molded part to improve even internal pressure. Like this, the relaxation of mold deformation may play a role in compression in the injection-compression molding process.

in position 1 as the gate place. This approach can be used to measure the exion mold plate elements in real time. The mold strength inuences the mold deection dramatically. The gate and cavity thickness increases, due to the exion deformation allowing more plastic molten to enter the cavity before gate freezing. As a consequence, the cavity pressure decays are denitively different. Although the pressure history is modied when the mold deects, the solidication pressure in the part thickness does not seem to be signicantly modied with a small deformation. However, when the gate thickness increases to nearly the cavity thickness, namely thick gate [9], the packing pressure induces signicant negative shrinkage in the plastic parts. Hence, the mold deection and packing pressure markedly inuence injection-molded part thickness and residual stresses.

References
[1] Lee HK, Huang JC, Yang GE, Hong GK. Key Eng. Mater. 2006, 306308, 13311336. [2] Boitout F, PhD Thesis, CEMEF Shopia Antiopolis: France, 1993. [3] Kambour RP, Caraher JC, Schnoor RC, Todt ML, Wang HP, Willey SJ. Polym. Eng. Sci. 1996, 36, 28632874. [4] Chen SC, Liaw WL, Su PL, Chung MH. J. Adv. Polym. Technol. 2003, 22, 114. [5] Pantani R, Speranza V, Titomanlio V. Polym. Eng. Sci. 2001, 41, 20222035. [6] Delaunay D, LeBot P, Fulchiron R, Luve JF, Regnier G. Polym. Eng. Sci. 2000, 40, 16921700. [7] Baaijens FPT. Rheol. Acta. 1991, 30, 284299. [8] Boitout F, Agassant JF, Vincent M. Intern. Polym. Proc. 1995, 10, 237242. [9] Wu CH, Huang YJ. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 2007, 32, 11441154. [10] Leo V, Cuvelliez CH. Polym. Eng. Sci. 1996, 36, 19611971. [11] Carpenter B, Patil S, Hoffman R. Polym. Eng. Sci. 2006, 46, 844852. [12] Titomanlio G, Jansen KMB. Polym. Eng. Sci. 1995, 36, 2041 2049.

4. Conclusions
By generating a xture to install the displacement sensor underneath the cavity plate, it is possible to monitor local mold rigidities in real-time. Three different packing pressures and three cavity thicknesses were set up for numerical and experimental analysis. The local mold deection was monitored in real time at four measurement positions. The exion deformation at the gate location causes a gate and cavity thickness increase. The cavity pressure was also measured in real time with two pressure sensors. The simulation results and measured data were in agreement. Indeed, the mold deection persisted until the mold opening and cavity plate relaxation were clearly observed by monitoring the exion cavity plate in real time. The displacement sensor obtained accurate and stable data at all measurement positions, except position 3. The maximum exion point was

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