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Journal of Materials Processing Technology 187–188 (2007) 690–693
Adaptive system for electrically driven thermoregulation
of moulds for injection moulding
ˇB. Nardin a,? , B. Zagar a,? , A. Glojek a , D. Kriˇ aj bz
a
TECOS, Tool and Die Development Centre of Slovenia, Kidriˇ eva Cesta 25, 3000 Celje, Sloveniac
b Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
One of the basic problems in the development and production process of moulds for injection moulding is the control of temperature con-
ditions in the mould. Precise study of thermodynamic processes in moulds showed, that heat exchange can be manipulated by thermoelectrical
means. Such system upgrades conventional cooling systems within the mould or can be a stand alone application for heat manipulation within
it.
In the paper, the authors will present results of the research project, which was carried out in three phases and its results are patented in A686\2006
patent. The testing stage, the prototype stage and the industrialization phase will be presented. The main results of the project were total and rapid
on-line thermoregulation of the mould over the cycle time and overall in?uence on quality of plastic product with emphasis on deformation
control.
Presented application can present a milestone in the ?eld of mould temperature and product quality control during the injection moulding process.
? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Injection moulding; Mould cooling; Thermoelectric modules; FEM simulations
1. Introduction, de?nition of problem
Development of technology of cooling moulds via thermo-
electrical (TEM) means derives out of the industrial praxis and
problems, i.e. at design, tool making and exploitation of tools.
Current cooling technologies have technological limitations.
Their limitations can be located and predicted in advance with
?nite element analyses (FEA) simulation packages but not com-
pletely avoided. Results of a diverse state of the art analyses
revealed that all existing cooling systems do not provide con-
trollable heat transfer capabilities adequate to ?t into demand-
ing technological windows of current polymer processing
technologies.
Polymer processing is nowadays limited (in term of short-
ening the production cycle time and within that reducing costs)
only with heat capacity manipulation capabilities. Other produc-
tion optimization capabilities are already driven to mechanical
and polymer processing limitations [3].
1.1. Thermal processes in injection moulding plastic
processing
Plastic processing is based on heat transfer between plastic
material and mould cavity. Within calculation of heat transfer
one should consider two major facts: ?rst is all used energy
which is based on ?rst law of thermodynamics—law of energy
conservation [1], second is velocity of heat transfer. Basic task
at heat transfer analyses is temperature calculation over time
and its distribution inside studied system. That last depends on
velocity of heat transfer between the system and surroundings
and velocity of heat transfer inside the system. Heat transfer can
be based as heat conduction, convection and radiation [1].
1.2. Cooling time
Complete injection moulding process cycle comprises of
mould closing phase, injection of melt into cavity, packing pres-
sure phase for compensating shrinkage effect, cooling phase,
mould opening phase and part ejection phase. In most cases, the
longest time of all phases described above is cooling time.
Cooling time in injection moulding process is de?ned as
time needed to cool down the plastic part down to ejection
temperature [1].
?
Corresponding authors. Tel.: +386 3 490920; fax: +386 3 4264612.
E-mail address: Blaz.Nardin@tecos.si (B. Nardin).
0924-0136/$ – see front matter ? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2006.11.052
B. Nardin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 187–188 (2007) 690–693
691
Fig. 1. Mould temperature variation across one cycle [2].
Fig. 2. TEM block diagram.
The main aim of a cooling process is to lower additional
cooling time which is theoretically needless; in praxis, it extends
from 45 up to 67% of the whole cycle time [1,4].
From literature and experiments [1,4], it can be seen, that the
mould temperature has enormous in?uence on the ejection time
and therefore the cooling time (costs).
Injection moulding process is a cyclic process where mould
temperature varies as shown in Fig. 1 where temperature varies
from average value through whole cycle time.
2. Cooling technology for plastic injection moulds
As it was already described, there are already several differ-
ent technologies, enabling the users to cool the moulds [5]. The
most conventional is the method with the drilling technology,
i.e. producing holes in the mould. Through these holes (cooling
lines), the cooling media is ?owing, removing the generated and
accumulated heat from the mould [1,2]. It is also very convenient
to build in different materials, with different thermal conductiv-
ity with the aim to enhance control over temperature conditions
in the mould. Such approaches are so called passive approaches
towards the mould temperature control.
The challenging task is to make an active system, which can
alter the thermal conditions, regarding to the desired aspects,
like product quality or cycles time. One of such approaches is
integrating thermal electrical modules (TEM), which can alter
the thermal conditions in the mould, regarding the desired prop-
erties. With such approach, the one can control the heat transfer
with the time and space variable, what means, that the temper-
ature can be regulated throughout the injection moulding cycle,
independent of the position in the mould. The heat control is
done by the control unit, where the input variables are received
from the manual input or the input from the injection moulding
simulation. With the output values, the control unit monitors the
TEM module behaviour.
2.1. Thermoelectric modules (TEM)
For the needs of the thermal manipulation, the TEM module
was integrated into mould. Interaction between the heat and elec-
trical variables for heat exchange is based on the Peltier effect.
The phenomenon of Peltier effect is well known, but it was until
now never used in the injection moulding applications. TEM
module (see Fig. 2) is a device composed of properly arranged
pairs of P and N type semiconductors that are positioned between
two ceramic plates forming the hot and the cold thermoelectric
cooler sites. Power of a heat transfer can be easily controlled
through the magnitude and the polarity of the supplied electric
current.
2.2. Application for mould cooling
The main idea of the application is inserting TEM module
into walls of the mould cavity serving as a primary heat transfer
unit.
Such basic assembly can be seen in Fig. 3. Secondary heat
transfer is realized via conventional ?uid cooling system that
allows heat ?ows in and out from mould cavity thermodynamic
system.
Device presented in Fig. 3 comprises of thermoelectric
modules (A) that enable primarily heat transfer from or to tem-
perature controllable surface of mould cavity (B). Secondary
heat transfer is enabled via cooling channels (C) that deliver
constant temperature conditions inside the mould. Thermoelec-
tric modules (A) operate as heat pump and as such manipulate
with heat derived to or from the mould by ?uid cooling sys-
tem (C). System for secondary heat manipulation with cooling
channels work as heat exchanger. To reduce heat capacity of
controllable area thermal insulation (D) is installed between the
mould cavity (F) and the mould structure plates (E).
Fig. 3. Structure of TEM cooling assembly.
692
B. Nardin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 187–188 (2007) 690–693
Fig. 4. Structure for temperature detection and regulation.
The whole application consists of TEM modules, a temper-
ature sensor and an electronic unit that controls the complete
system. The system is described in Fig. 4 and comprises of an
input unit (input interface) and a supply unit (unit for electronic
and power electronic supply—H bridge unit).
The input and supply units with the temperature sensor loop
information are attached to a control unit that acts as an exe-
cution unit trying to impose prede?ned temperate/time/position
relations. Using the Peltier effect, the unit can be used for heating
or cooling purposes.
The secondary heat removal is realized via ?uid cooling
media seen as heat exchanger in Fig. 4. That unit is based on
current cooling technologies and serves as a sink or a source
of a heat. This enables complete control of processes in terms
of temperature, time and position through the whole cycle.
Furthermore, it allows various temperature/time/position pro-
?les within the cycle also for starting and ending procedures.
Described technology can be used for various industrial and
research purposes where precise temperature/time/position con-
trol is required.
The presented systems in Figs. 3 and 4 were analysed from the
theoretical, as well as the practical point of view. The theoretical
aspect was analysed by the FEM simulations, while the practical
one by the development and the implementation of the prototype
into real application testing.
3. FEM analysis of mould cooling
Current development of designing moulds for injection
moulding comprises of several phases [3]. Among them is also
design and optimization of a cooling system. This is nowa-
days performed by simulations using customized FEM packages
(Mold?ow [4]) that can predict cooling system capabilities and
especially its in?uence on plastic. With such simulations, mould
designers gather information on product rheology and deforma-
tion due to shrinkage as ell as production time cycle information.
This thermal information is usually accurate but can still be
unreliable in cases of insuf?cient rheological material informa-
tion. For the high quality input for the thermal regulation of
TEM, it is needed to get a picture about the temperature distri-
bution during the cycle time and throughout the mould surface
and throughout the mould thickness. Therefore, different process
simulations are needed.
Fig. 5. Cross-section of a prototype in FEM environment.
3.1. Physical model, FEM analysis
Implementation of FEM analyses into development project
was done due to authors’ long experiences with such packages
[4] and possibility to perform different test in the virtual envi-
ronment. Whole prototype cooling system was designed in FEM
environment (see Fig. 5) through which temperature distribution
in each part of prototype cooling system and contacts between
them were explored. For simulating physical properties inside a
developed prototype, a simulation model was constructed using
COMSOL Multiphysics software. Result was a FEM model
identical to real prototype (see Fig. 7) through which it was
possible to compare and evaluate results.
FEM model was explored in term of heat transfer physics
taking into account two heat sources: a water exchanger with
?uid physics and a thermoelectric module with heat transfer
physics (only conduction and convection was analysed, radiation
was ignored due to low relative temperature and therefore low
impact on temperature).
Boundary conditions for FEM analyses were set with the
goal to achieve identical working conditions as in real test-
ing. Surrounding air and the water exchanger were set at stable
temperature of 20 ? C.
Fig. 6. Temperature distribution according to FEM analysis.
B. Nardin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 187–188 (2007) 690–693
693
Fig. 7. Prototype in real environment.
Results of the FEM analysis can be seen in Fig. 6, i.e. temper-
ature distribution through the simulation area shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 6 represents steady state analysis which was very accurate
in comparison to prototype tests. In order to simulate the time
response also the transient simulation was performed, showing
very positive results for future work. It was possible to achieve a
temperature difference of 200 ? C in a short period of time (5 s),
what could cause several problems in the TEM structure. Those
problems were solved by several solutions, such as adequate
mounting, choosing appropriate TEM material and applying
intelligent electronic regulation.
3.2. Laboratory testing
As it was already described, the prototype was produced and
tested (see Fig. 7). The results are showing, that the set assump-
tions were con?rmed. With the TEM module it is possible to
control the temperature distribution on different parts of the
mould throughout the cycle time. With the laboratory tests, it
was proven, that the heat manipulation can be practically regu-
lated with TEM modules. The test were made in the laboratory,
simulating the real industrial environment, with the injection
moulding machine Krauss Maffei KM 60 C, temperature sen-
sors, infrared cameras and the prototype TEM modules. The
temperature response in 1.8 s varied form +5 up to 80 ? C, what
represents a wide area for the heat control within the injection
moulding cycle.
4. Conclusions
Use of thermoelectric module with its straightforward con-
nection between the input and output relations represents a
milestone in cooling applications. Its introduction into moulds
for injection moulding with its problematic cooling construction
and problematic processing of precise and high quality plastic
parts represents high expectations.
The authors were assuming that the use of the Peltier effect
can be used for the temperature control in moulds for injection
moulding. With the approach based on the simulation work and
the real production of laboratory equipment proved, the assump-
tions were con?rmed. Simulation results showed a wide area of
possible application of TEM module in the injection moulding
process.
With mentioned functionality of a temperature pro?le across
cycle time, injection moulding process can be fully controlled.
Industrial problems, such as uniform cooling of problematic
A class surfaces and its consequence of plastic part appear-
ance can be solved. Problems of ?lling thin long walls can be
solved with overheating some surfaces at injection time. Further-
more, with such application control over rheological properties
of plastic materials can be gained. With the proper thermal
regulation of TEM it was possible even to control the melt
?ow in the mould, during the ?lling stage of the mould cav-
ity. This is done with the appropriate temperature distribution
of the mould (higher temperature on the thin walled parts of the
product).
With the application of TEM module, it is possible to signif-
icantly reduce the cycle time in the injection moulding process.
The limits of possible time reduction lies in the frame of 10–25%
of additional cooling time, describe in Section 1.2.
With the application of TEM module it is possible to actively
control the warping of the product and to regulate the amount
of product warpage in the way to achieve required product tol-
erances.
The presented TEM module cooling application for injection
moulding process is a matter of priority note for the patent, held
and owned by TECOS.
References
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