Three-dimensional numerical and experimental investigations on polymer rheology in meso-scale injection molding

Three-dimensional simulation and experimental investigation of polymer rheology in a miniature injection molding process is presented. The material used in the study is ABS plastic, Toyolac 250-X10 and tests are carried out at different temperatures of the molten thermoplastic which is injected into the mold cavity. FLUENT 6.3 software is used in the simulation to verify the viscosity model (Cross model) and the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is applied for the melt front tracking. The model is validated by means of experiments performed by using Davenport High Shear Viscometer with injection nozzle. It has been observed that there exists an optimum combination of temperature viscosity and shear rate for the selected injection molding process. Accordingly, the temperature range 200–260 °C and shear rate 102–104 s− 1 are found good for the process. The mold flow profiles for various temperatures and time steps are also presented. The experimental and the simulation results are in good conformity and the strength of FLUENT 6.3 in handling injection mold filling problems is proved to be excellent.