In compression molding, a polymer charge is placed into an open heated cavity. The cavity is then closed and compressed to force the material to fill the entire cavity.
Compression molding can be used with both thermoplastic and thermoset materials.
Considerations
In compression molding there are several considerations to keep in mind:
- the proper amount of material to ensure the cavity is filled
- optimizing the cooling circuit to ensure rapid cooling of the part
- the force required to compress the initial charge of material
- the minimum time and energy required to ensure the plastic melts
Best practices
For best simulation results,
- Use plenty of layers of elements in the Z-direction in the part mesh, especially in the XY region of part mesh to be compressed. This region of the part mesh is stretched by the press open distance at the start of analysis, so more layers improves accuracy.
- The accuracy of the outer surface of the initial charge is more important than the number of mesh layers.