8. Simulation tools
Only two commercially available software packages can simulate the water-assisted injection molding process: REM3D and MOLDEX. The former was developed by Cemef (Centre de mise en forme des matériaux de l'École des mines de Paris) in Sophia-Antipolis, and the latter by Swansea University in Wales.
Based on the exact geometry, a surface mesh of the part's skin is created. This mesh can be produced using commercially available meshing tools. This surface mesh is then transferred to the 3D mesh tool, which can be used to adapt the size of the elements to the calculation constraints. The optimized surface mesh, a very simple operation, generates a volume mesh.
This module calculates a two-phase filling: polymer and water. When switching to water, the software uses the information calculated for each element at the end of the filling phase, i.e....
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Simulation tools
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While the situation is complicated with gas-assisted injection molding, it's simple with water-assisted injection molding. In fact, the Institut fûr Kunststoffverarbeitung (IKV) in Aachen, Germany, has been working on this process since 1996, and published its findings in full in the April 1999 issue of Kunststoffe. This publication prevents patent applications from being filed in Europe, enabling the process to be promoted rather...
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