Bachelor’s/Master’s thesis, research laboratory or project work
Topic of the work:
The great potential of foamed plastic components is the focus of research due to the need for sustainable products with low material usage. Foaming in injection moulding enables the production of lighter, complex molded parts. This results in lower material consumption and lower energy consumption of e.g. vehicles due to the weight savings.
In order to exploit the potential of foamed components, precise knowledge of the foam structure is required. Since the size, density and shape of the foam cells depend on the local state parameters, the simulation is useful for accurately predicting these properties. Models that have already been developed are capable of mapping nucleation and bubble growth. The task of the thesis is therefore the characterization and implementation of homogeneously nucleated foam cells in the component.
© IKVThe work is related to this research project:
The research project deals with the simulation of thermoplastic foam injection molding on the microscale. There, the exact foam structures are to be mapped using a geometrically and physically motivated microscale model. This makes it possible to predict the strongly process-dependent foam structures in injection molding and to draw conclusions about the real mechanical properties. In addition, the imaging accuracy of the macroscale can be improved in a multiscale simulation.
Objective:
The aim of the work is to implement the already developed models of nucleation and bubble growth in the OpenFOAM software. The rheological and thermal material models are adapted for this purpose. Foam structures determined from experimental results are available for calibrating the model parameters and validating the results.
Your task:
| For a Bachelor's thesis you will work on the following task | For a Master's thesis you will work on the following task: |
| Familiarization with the open source simulation software OpenFOAM | Familiarization with the open source simulation software OpenFOAM |
| Implementation of the nucleation and bubble growth model | Implementation of the nucleation and bubble growth model |
| Calibration of the model parameters using real foam structures | Calibration of the model parameters using real foam structures |
| Validation of the simulated foam structures using a component |
| For research laboratory work: For project work: |
| Extraction of samples Development of an evaluation method for the analysis of cells in microscopy images |
| Production of foamed molded parts Production of foamed molded parts |
| Examination of the foam structure under digital microscopes Extraction of samples |
| Quantification of cell size, density and shape Examination of the foam structure under digital microscopes |
| Quantification of cell size, density and shape using the developed procedure |
Your profile:
- You are a student of mechanical engineering / industrial engineering specializing in mechanical engineering or materials and process engineering, CES, materials science, environmental engineering, applied polymer science, simulation science
- Interest in flow simulations and modeling of physical processes
- Interest in working independently and flexibly in a motivated team
- Rough knowledge of a common programming language
If you are interested in writing your thesis at IKV and in this task, please apply.