Moldex3D 2021 Co Injection Introduction

Co-Injection Molding (CoIM)
Biuro konstrukcyjne PawForm

CoreTech System Co., Ltd. │ Copyright© 2021 Moldex3D. All rights reserved.
Content
Introduction
Concepts of Co-Injection Molding process
Moldex3D Co-Injection Molding Features and Benefits
Conclusion
Case Study
Earphone hook
No contents are construed as providing a warranty, including any warranty of merchantability, accuracy, completeness, or fitness for purpose, or representation for which CoreTech System Co., Ltd. assumes any legal responsibility.
Introduction
Co-Injection Molding Process
To simulate the sequential injection of skin and core plastic materials, concerning the fountain flow behaviour in the
sandwich molding process
The skin leaves a frozen layer on the cavity wall, then the sequential shot
penetrates into the melt core through the path to displace the first material
Co-Injection Molding Machine
Sequential co-injection processes have two barrels and one nozzle with different kinds of channel designs for skin and
core materials injecting:
Two barrels
A control valve that let the melts

enter the cavity in a sequential order A simultaneous injection which uses
a two-channel nozzle
One-channel technique Two-channel technique
Relationship between Skin/Core Material
Skin material is expected to be accreted on the cavity wall over the entire surface of the part
Core material then is used to displace the skin plastic at the hot core, filling the rest of the cavity
This kind of product is a sandwich-like structure, with the core plastic in the middle and skin plastic on the surface of the
part
http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/fengwj/IMG_8463.jpg http://mdiblog2.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/bypass
-your-competition-with-co-injection-molding/
Concerns & Difficulties
The main purpose of using sandwich molding is to bring an even skin/core materials distribution ratio
Due to constant frozen skin layer thickness and sequential hot core injection, the sufficient skin plastic could be a critical
concern:
￭ Poor interaction of skin and core front
• If the core front goes ahead of skin front, it will deplete all the skin plastic, and definitely diminish the
thickness ratio distribution
￭ This undesirable core surfacing easily leads to blow through
Blow through
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coinjection_(sandwich)_molded_part.jpg
Applications & Challenges
Due to two dissimilar materials injection, the primary simulation challenges of Co-Injection include:
￭ To optimize the combination of two material properties
￭ To maximize overall flow performance ratio of skin/core materials
￭ To avoid blow through and maintain quality surface finish
Ref: CoreTech Internal
Features and Benefits
Moldex3D Co-Injection Molding
View the dynamic interaction between skin and core materials in the cavity
Consider and improve the critical defects of flow imbalance and core blow through
Optimize the skin thickness and evaluate maximum core advancement ratio for structural analysis
Skin/Core Melt Evolution
3D distinct visualization of skin and core advances to optimize the two material properties and combinations without
causing blow through
60% short shot

20% core filling 40% core filling End of filling
End of skin filling
Comparison of Experiment and Simulation
Evaluate the flow front pattern to aid in part design and gate placement
Experimental results
Moldex3D simulation
Skin/Core Ratio Variation
Moldex3D presents numerical simulations to display the ratio distribution while the sequential shot penetrates into the
cavity
Determine the optimized injection amount of materials and avoid flow imbalance
Skin Ratio/Thickness Prediction
The effect of skin thickness distribution can largely determine the skin flow orientation to evaluate the maximum core ratio
￭ Avoid blow through and maintain quality surface finish
The skin ratio distribution along the spiral mold. Red

colour suggests a skin rich region. The blue colour
region at the flow front showed the core penetration
The cross sectional view of the core

distribution inside the cavity along with
the mesh structure
Skin Melt and Core Expansion
Capability of skin melt view helps determine the suitable timing for core material injection
The melt front evolution with time for 2-mm cavity
The stage of core expansion is indicated between the dotted lines
Skin Material and Thickness Validation
The filling visualization of skin/core further helps evaluate the amount of skin material with frozen skin layer thickness
variation
￭ Better decision of geometry thickness for product design
Higher skin ratio has more skin material to be consumed

before core penetration
Maximum flow length increases when the cavity thickness increases
Blow Through Prediction and Display
Predict the core expansion for possible blow through assessment

￭ Visualize filling ratio and part thickness of skin and core dynamics distribution
￭ Avoid the unusual phenomenon of skin depletion
￭ Optimize overall flow performance of the two materials
The core expansion in thickness direction as the skin Ref: D. Watanabe, U. S. Ishiaku, T. Nagaoku, K.
melt front advanced right before blow through Tomari, H. Hamada, International Polymer
happens Processing, 18, 405 (2003)
Blow Through Comparison
No blow
through
After blow
through
Core Penetration Animation
Physical Properties Distribution
Predict physical properties such as viscosity and density distribution in skin and core material sections
￭ Evaluate filling ratio to predict the possibility of blow through
￭ Help improve the uniformity and optimizes product strength
Temperature/Pressure Variation
Consider temperature imbalance and pressure resistance variation of skin layer and center core
Capable of pinpointing potential locations with high temperature and stress during the penetration process
frozen skin layer

hot center core
high pressure
End of skin filling End of core filling
Particle Tracer Analysis
Supports particle tracer function

￭ For better understanding of two materials combination effect during the filling process
￭ Setting in the Fill/Pack of Computation Process Stage
The results of particle filling behavior

can be displayed by lines or points.
Note the function is only available for
Enhanced-P solver.
Display when there are two

melt entrances
Flow Length (By line) Material ID (By point)
Warpage Prediction
Estimate shrinkage and warpage concerning the interaction between skin and core materials
Design Considerations for Co-Injection Molding
Material
selection
Mold
design
Processing
condition
Flow
behavior
Part design
Quality
product
Material distribution vs. Design
criteria?
Conclusion
Moldex3D Co-Injection Molding
Offer precise visualization of simultaneous flow impact of skin and core materials during the sequential molding process
Provide effective predictions of skin and core thickness ratio and possible blow through effect under the circumstance of
frozen skin layer and hot core
Has better determination of proper amount of skin and core materials and the best switch point from skin injection to
core injection
Give final verifications of skin and

core melt traveling behaviors of two
material properties for ideal geometry
thickness design
Case Study Earphone hook
Case 1: Earphone hook
The hook connects to the phone and mic assembly

The hook design has a flexible skin to provide better feel of touch in contact with the ear
The hook should have enough stiffness to withstand deformation
The hook dimension should meet specification
Original Sequential Design
Objective
￭ Evaluate co-injection process for better strength and dimension
TPE
Hook region, Flexibility
PP
Lock region, Stiffness
Gate Location Design
Revise gate location to increase PP ratio at the lock region
70% Skin Filling Ratio
Uneven distribution of core material at the lock region
Using Co-Injection Process
Benefit:
The co-injection process provides ideal material combination of soft skin / hard core to meet design criteria
Concern:
Part and process design to reach desired mechanical strength
Warpage issues due to imbalanced core distribution
Melt Front Evolution
Skin Ratio
80% 70%
50% 40%
Blow through occurred! Blow through occurred!
Skin Ratio
Hook region has a uniform

content of elastomers
Red colored region (100%

skin) shows all hard materials
appear at the joint
Cornering Effect
Core melt travels

toward inside the corner
Warpage and Total Displacement
10×
Serious Warp due to weak
strength of TPE
Controlled Blow Through
40% skin filling ratio
0.07s
Blow through occurred
Skin Ratio
With better control of blow through, stiffness at lock region and flexibility at hook region can be achieved
Warpage and Total Displacement
10 ×
Improved warp at lock region
Moldex3D FEA Workflow
Users can output the data to FEA software for more accurate structure analysis
Flow analysis
Element
properties
+
Material
parameters
Structural
simulation
software
Structural Analysis Result
B.C.
Fixed location
around the joint Load
500g of force applied at the end
Deformation Results
Since the joint region contains only hard

material, most of the deformation occurred on
the ear piece location
Summary of the Case
Max. skin ratio without core blow through is around 60%
Revision of gate location could decrease soft skin ratio at lock region, but cause uneven distribution of stiff material
With better control of blow through, stiffness at lock region and flexibility at hook region can be achieved
Modules in Moldex3D work seamlessly together to provide invaluable information throughout the entire design,
manufacturing, and usage phases

Moldex3D 2021 Co Injection Introduction

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Moldex3D 2021 Co Injection Introduction

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Co-Injection Molding (CoIM)

Biuro konstrukcyjne PawForm

Moldex3D Co-Injection Molding Features and Benefits

A control valve that let the melts

One-channel technique Two-channel technique

Ref: CoreTech Internal

60% short shot

The skin ratio distribution along the spiral mold. Red

The cross sectional view of the core

The melt front evolution with time for 2-mm cavity

The stage of core expansion is indicated between the dotted lines

Higher skin ratio has more skin material to be consumed

Maximum flow length increases when the cavity thickness increases

Predict the core expansion for possible blow through assessment

frozen skin layer

End of skin filling End of core filling

Supports particle tracer function

The results of particle filling behavior

Display when there are two

Flow Length (By line) Material ID (By point)

Give final verifications of skin and

The hook connects to the phone and mic assembly

Revise gate location to increase PP ratio at the lock region

Uneven distribution of core material at the lock region

Blow through occurred! Blow through occurred!

Hook region has a uniform

Red colored region (100%

Core melt travels

40% skin filling ratio

Since the joint region contains only hard

Max. skin ratio without core blow through is around 60%

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