Taizhou Huangyan Kevplas Mould Co.,Ltd

Moldflow Analysis

What is a Mold Flow Analysis?

A trained and  experienced tool maker will perform an analysis of the injection molding  mold before the first cut is made of the mold material.  This will  predict how to create the lightest, strongest, and most consistent parts  from each cavity in the mold.  You can select the resin for your parts,  and the software will show an accurate prediction of the resin flowing  into each cavity in the injection molding tool.  This can also offer  opportunity to optimize melt temperature, molding pressures, fill cycle  times, plus other variables before the first art is produced.

How Does a Mold Flow Analysis Benefit the Process?

The main reason to  complete a mold flow analysis is the ability to predict where the  current mold will have complications and offer a visual representation  of where to focus resources to create fast, efficient, and consistent  injection molded parts.

These are results that you can expect after an analysis identifies all areas needed for improvement:

• Faster cycle times –  You can expect your mold to run faster as it will be able to fill the  parts quicker and more consistently after an anlysis that optimizes the  injection molding process.

• Reduce clamp tonnage –  An optimized mold will reduce all restrictions and require only a  miminum clamp load to secure the mold closed during the injection  process.

• Produce better quality parts –  Your mold will offer consistency from part to part, whether that runs  in the hundreds or millions. A properly designed mold will yield very  minimal variance.

• Speed up overall project progress –  A mold flow analysis takes the guess work out of optimization and  offers your tooling maker the resulting design that requires little to  no modification to make optimized parts. Development time it minimized,  which will also save you investment cost.

• Reduce the number of mold test cycles –  In early years of injection molding, development could take months to  find the optimum design through trial and error. A computerized analysis  removes most or all of the trial time, and allows the first use of the  tool to produce optimized parts.

• Reduce your delivery time on parts –  An optimized mold will be ready to produce production parts sooner than  ever before. As analysis modeling and software continually become  better at creating accurate models, molds require less design and  tooling changes before production can begin.

What Are the Main Results of a Mold Flow Analysis?

Analysis offers  results that require minimal validation before production trials can  begin.  These are the results you can expect from the analysis, and how  they will optimize your mold:

Fill / Pack Analysis

The filling and  packing analysis allows the designer and toolmaker to see how the chosen  resin will behave as it flows through the mold creating your parts.  In  order to optimize the fill / pack for an injection molding tool, these  will need to be improved:

• The gate and runner size will be perfected to flow resin well.

• The tool will be sized correctly for tonnage and machine use.

• You will have the ability to choose welding / knit line placement between the cavity halves.

• The sink marks will be identified and countered, if required

• Gate positions in the mold can be adjusted or moved

• Molding variables, such as pressure, can be varied and validated

• The chosen resin can be verified as the best choice

Mold Cooling Analysis

Cooling time in  injection molding can determine the difference between a good and bad  part that meets dimensional criteria, and can also vary cycle time that  causes downtime and lost revenue.  Optimizing the cooling phase of the  injection molding cycle gives you these benefits:

• Reduced and predictable warpage that ensures the parts created meet your specifications every time they are produced

• Optimized coolant paths through the injection molding tool

• Optimized coolant tube sizes and flow rates to minimize cycle time while producing excellent quality

• Verification of baffles and bubblers to choose the best for your molding conditions

Warp Analysis

Many factors can  affect dimensional tolerance part after part, and analyzing the  conditions inducing warpage will reduce scrap and increase productivity.

• One major benefit of injection molding is producing  parts repetitively and consistently. A warp analysis will identify  variable and parameter limits to ensure each part produced will be  within production design tolerance.

• Factors that contribute to part warpage include:  part design, final resin selection, fiber orientation, the molding  process itself, and the mold cooling system design.

• The Warp Analysis can also define the variables  that need constant monitoring in production to reduce variation, scrap  mitigation, and efficient molding conditions.