Multiple barrel thermoplastics injection molding
Multiple barrel thermoplastics injection molding enables you to simulate the injection of a single material using up to 15 sub barrels. This approach is used to fill the part faster and pack it more evenly than is possible using standard injection molding with a single barrel.
Simulate a single thermoplastic material in multiple barrels with
- Different barrels properties
- Different melt temperatures
- Different delay times
- Different filling, packing and cooling controls
This molding process is supported by all mesh types:
Midplane
Dual Domain
3D
and the following analysis sequences:
| Analysis Sequence | Mesh Type |
|---|---|
Fill | |
Fill + Pack | |
Fill + Pack + Warp | |
Cool + Fill + Pack | |
Cool + Fill + Pack +Warp | |
Cool (FEM) + Fill + Pack |  |
Cool (FEM) + Fill + Pack +Warp | |
Workflow
To set up a multiple barrel thermoplastics injection molding analysis, set an injection location and associated process settings for the master barrel as you would a normal thermoplastics injection molding analysis. All injection locations set from the Home tab are master barrel locations and take their instruction from the process settings you enter.
Sub barrels locations and sub barrel process settings are set from the Boundary Conditions tab. Each sub barrel must only be applied to only one node, but you can create upto 15 sub barrels and assign them to 15 different nodes. Sub barrel glyphs can be differentiated from the master barrel injection location by their shape.
Analysis logs
The analysis log for the master barrel is the same as conventional injection molding. The log reports various solver parameters, material properties, mesh details, injection molding machine specifications, and processing conditions for the master barrel. The screen also shows the analysis progress, and results summaries at completion.
The analysis log for each sub barrel is recorded and translated into a text file that you can review side-be-side, for comparison. After you run the macro to convert the log files into text files, the text files are stored in the project folder for you to access at will.
Limitations
- Multiple barrel thermoplastics injection molding is only supported for conventional injection molding. Other molding processes, such as gas-assisted injection molding, compression molding, microcellular injection molding, and co-injection molding, are not supported.
- Valve gates are not supported.