Numerical simulation of injection moulding process and the pre-modelling concept

Finite element or finite difference methods are implemented in several flow analysis programs (e.g. Moldflow®). These filling programs rest on heavy computations to carry out an industrial parts production. In consequence, there exists a need among the polymer processing companies to develop innovative approaches in terms of grid computing and mould simulation software. There seems to be a lack of pre-modelling ‘tools’, which allow estimating an effective solution. In this direction, to simulate polymer injection in a mould cavity, we present an original approach based on a macro analysis of the propagation front during the filling phase. In addition, we propose to optimise the mould design in order to perform the most homogeneous filling and by the way, the best positioning of injection points in order to reach a minimal end-filling pressure.