Cavity-specific control of the injection moulding process to optimise family moulds
As part of the ZIM research project FamRe, a method for cavity-specific control of the injection molding process is being developed. By precisely adjusting the opening strokes of electrically operated hot runner valve pins during the injection phase, filling differences in family molds are to be balanced, significantly improving the quality of molded parts.
Family moulds are a special type of multi-cavity mould in which components of different sizes or geometries are produced, which usually belong to the same assembly. To increase process consistency, a cavity-specific control of the cavity pressure was developed, in which the pressure transmission into the cavity is influenced by variable opening strokes of the hot runner valve pins.
© IKVIn a previous IGF project, this method had already been developed for a single-cavity mould and has now been transferred to a family mould. In a first step, the interaction of individual pin movements on the neighbouring cavities was investigated both simulatively and experimentally. No interaction can be observed for the low volume flows that occur during the holding pressure phase for shrinkage compensation, so that a transfer to the multi-cavity system is possible. The pvT-optimised cavity pressure control was implemented for the holding pressure phase. This allows the influence of process fluctuations on the injection moulding process and the resulting component quality to be reduced.
Project Data and Funding
We would like to thank the BMWK for funding the project (ZIM funding code KK5158707PR1) and the project partnersfor their cooperation.
Project duration: 01.10.2022 – 30.09.2024
Project Partners
