A 3D study on the effect of gate location on the cooling of polymer by injection molding

Injection molding is one of the most widely used plastic part processing. The quality of the injection molded part is a function of plastic material, part geometry, mold structure and process conditions. Gate location is among the most critical factors in achieving dimensionally accurate parts and high productivity of the molding process. To investigate the effect of the gate location on the cooling of polymer by injection molding, a full three dimensional time-dependent analysis is carried out for a mold with cuboids-shape cavity having two different thicknesses. The cooling of the polymer material is carried out by cooling water flowing inside six horizontal circular channels. Three gate locations are assumed, normal to the cavity surface, normal to the small thickness of the cavity, and normal to the large thickness of the cavity. A numerical model by finite volume is used for the solution of the physical model. A validation of the numerical model is presented. The results show that the gate location normal to the small thickness of the cavity achieves the minimum time required to completely solidify the product and minimum solidification of the product during the filling stage. They also indicate that the temperature distribution through the output product is greatly affected by the position of the injection gate location.