Open Access

ARTICLE

Simulation of Three-dimensional Complex Flows in Injection Molding Using Immersed Boundary Method

Qiang Li¹

1 School of Mathematics and Information Science, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, P.R. China. E-mail: qianglinan@126.com

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2013, 94(3), 207-224. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2013.094.207

Abstract

In this paper, an immersed boundary method (IBM) has been developed to simulate three-dimensional (3D) complex flows in the injection molding process, in which the irregular boundary of mould is treated by a level set function. The melt front (melt-air interface) is captured and treated using the coupled level set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) method. The finite volume method on the nonstaggered meshes is implemented to solve the governing equations, and the melt filling process is simulated in a rectangular mould with both thick- and thin-wall sections. The numerical result shows good agreement with the available data. Finally, the melt filling processes in three different moulds, i.e., ring-shaped channels with concentric, eccentric and thin cylindrical insets, are investigated respectively. It is found that the so-called “race-tracking effect” and air traps phenomena could be observed successfully, which demonstrates the applicability of IBM to complex flows in injection molding.

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Keywords

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