Primary and secondary gas penetration during gas-assisted injection molding. Part II: simulation and experiment

Simulation and experimental studies have been carried out on the transient gas-liquid interface development and gas penetration behavior during the cavity filling and gas packing stage in the gas-assisted injection molding of a spiral tube cavity. The evolution of the gas/melt interface and the distribution of the residual wall thickness of skin melt along with the advancement of gas/melt front were investigated. Numerical simulations were implemented on a fixed mesh covering the entire cavity. The residual thickness of a polymer layer and the length of gas penetration in the moldings were calculated using both the simulation and model developed in Part I of this study and commercial software (C-Mold). Extensive molding experiments were performed on polystyrene at different processing conditions. The obtained results on the gas bubble dynamics and penetration behaviors were compared with those predicted by the present simulation and C-Mold, indicating the good predictive capability of the proposed model. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:992-1002, 2004.
INTRODUCTION During the past three decades, novel technologies have been introduced to produce parts with special design features that cannot be accomplished by conventional injection molding methods. Among them is [...]