Circuit heat flux

The Circuit heat flux result displays a measure of the rate heat is extracted by each cooling channel during the molding cycle.

Values obtained are related to several factors.

• Mold metal temperature
• Coolant temperature
• Coolant flow rate
• Coolant properties
• Circuit geometry

In most cases, the cooling channels are cooling the mold and the plot values are positive.

In cases where the cooling channels are heating the mold, a negative flux value results.

Note: The Circuit heat flux result is not listed under the Cool results by default. To display this plot, click (Results tab > Plots panel > New Plot), select Circuit heat flux from the list and click OK.

Using this result

For localized mold surface temperatures that are either hotter or colder than required, the impact of adjusting the coolant temperature or flow rate can be assessed.

If adjusting these values does not rectify the problem, either modify the existing cooling circuits or add new ones.

The amount of flux removed by a circuit can also be changed by altering the circuit diameter.

Things to look for

Channels with little Circuit heat flux values may be redundant. This is often the case with parallel circuits where one branch of the circuit has little coolant flow.

Verify that channels with areas of high heat flux have inlet and outlet coolant temperatures within 5ºC of each other.

The Circuit heat flux result can be used in conjunction with the Circuit metal temperature , Temperature, part and Flux, part results to understand how the cooling circuit is functioning.