The Next Generation of Polymer Injection Molding Simulation

Thermoplastics Thermosets Elastomers Ceramics Metals

A C C U R A CY
SIGMASOFT is the most accurate polymer simulation tool available in the market today. SIGMASOFT simulates the polymer injection molding process and considers the entire mold to achieve unmatched accuracy. The responsibilities of analyst have changed from providing simulations to providing solutions. Designers, engineers and analysts are not being asked to merely provide simulation results, but to become actively involved in the decision making process of where a design or process is heading. SIGMASOFT considers the relevant technical details of an injection molding process. When simulation of the process is coupled with the 3D mold components, cooling channels, complete runner system, and part geometries, the injection molding process is actually simulated, rather than assumed. The higher degree of accuracy of such

B ENEFIT S

simulation results allows engineers to make accurate and confident decisions about tooling designs and process parameters.

Faster Time to Market Improved Part Quality Larger Profit Margins Reduce Physical Prototyping Reduce Tooling Costs Reduce Mold Rework Faster Cycle Times Reduce Material Costs Reduce Machine Downtime Reduce Scrap Improved Communication Wider Processing Windows

E A SE O F US E
In-depth injection molding simulation software has typically been isolated to analysis groups due to complex model meshing and mesh-repair requirements. Designers with product responsibilities and engineers in charge of mold and process layout could not use these tools themselves, as they didnt have the expertise or time to deal with such issues. SIGMASOFT opens the simulation door to designers, engineers, and processors as the meshing is done automatically without sacrificing accuracy or in-depth analysis capability. No mesh clean-up is necessary! This is achieved by leveraging over 20 years of meshing technology used by sister product, MAGMASOFT, the global leader in casting simulation.

Filling - Packing - Cooling - Venting - Shrinkage Warpage - Stress - EjectionPost-Molding - Hot Runners Multi-Cycle - Multi-Component - Insert Overmolding
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FI LLI NG & P A C KI NG
Injection molding is a complex process in which many variables must be overcome to manufacture a plastic part. Simulation was developed to aid companies in understanding the many phenomena associated with flow of molten polymer into a mold cavity. What actually happens during filling? What happens in the packing phase? Simulation is a necessity to overcome complex molding understand what is actually happening inside the mold. processes to

How do you optimize cycle time, widen the process window, reduce material weight, minimize piece-part cost, and eliminate mold rework all without sacrificing part quality? SIGMASOFT filling and packing simulation predicts temperatures, pressures, velocities, crystallization, and shearing at any location, at any time step to determine manufacturability and ensure a balanced mold design. Weld lines, sink marks, voids, and air traps are also valuable outputs to eliminate the potential for part defects.

M U L TI- C Y CL E SIM U L ATI O N

The thermal distribution inside an injection mold depends on many different factors. In the same way as the polymer flows three dimensionally into the cavity, the heat also flows three dimensionally between inserts, part, mold, and thermal control. The complex interaction of heating, filling, cooling, and various mold materials inevitably leads to different temperatures inside an Injection mold sometimes significant.

A multi-cycle analysis enables you to simulate the quasi-stationary state of a mold, including all local temperature differences and consequently to perform a much more precise filling simulation based on the steady state temperature distribution.

The consideration of these local temperature differences becomes more and more important as today's requirements become increasingly challenging. For example:

Complex part geometries Permanent optimization of production processes Production of parts with high integration of functions High performance plastics that are difficult to process Complex mold technique in modern injection molds with different mold steels and alloys SIGMASOFT is a powerful tool to accurately calculate the complex thermal distribution in the mold coupled with polymer flow.

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COOLING
The thermal distribution inside an injection mold depends on many different factors. In the same way as the polymer flows three dimensionally into the cavity, the heat also flows three dimensionally between inserts, part, mold, and thermal control. When visualizing an injection molding simulation, one immediately pictures the colored lines showing the filling behavior of plastic parts. Why not think about an entire injection mold? After all, this is the part in question, for which the optimal rheological and thermal design has to be found. Every mold or process engineer will agree, the quality of the injection molded part is significantly influenced by the mold properties. If the purpose of the simulation is to reliably predict the part properties as well as the performance of the injection mold and the size of the process window, the entire mold needs to be considered in all its complexity. SIGMASOFT provides exactly those features. The entire injection molding tool is imported into SIGMASOFT via a CAD interface, The real thermo-physical properties are allocated to the appropriate mold components and the heat transfer between the components is defined.

P A R T E JE CT I O N
SIGMASOFT simulates the impact of the ejection system on the part and offers insight into the ejection system design. Ejection forces are predicted to understand their impact on final part quality. The ejection system may also be evaluated to determine the proper quantity of ejector pins.

VENTING
How important is venting in an injection mold? Any manufacturer of plastic parts knows that proper venting is crucial to the injection molding process. Without proper venting, quality and flow imbalances are commons issues. SIGMASOFT allows users to model vents into the simulation to optimize location and size, and view the impact of trapped air on the flow front. View entrapped air pockets, air pressure, and air temperature in the cavity at any time step at any location and at each vent.

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W E L D LI N E S T R E N G T H
SIGMASOFT not only shows the location of weld lines but also provides tools to determine the strength of the weld line by considering the angle, pressure, velocity, and temperature at which the flow fronts meet. Tracer particles also show what happens after the melt front meets as molten material continues to flow in the cavity.

P O S T - M O LD I N G A N A LY S IS
Part distortion and crystallization does not stop once the mold is opened and the part is ejected. SIGMASOFT predicts post-ejection stress relaxation and crystallization of the part which often provides a more accurate warpage prediction. A second heat cycle may also be simulated, taking into account the entire process history.

C A D I M P O RT O P T I O N S
3D CAD models of the part geometry (and the entire mold if desired) can be imported directly into SIGMASOFT in multiple formats including STEP, STL, SAT, Pro/ENGINEER, or CATIA format.

S H E A R I MBA L A N C E
Does your geometrically balanced mold still produce non-uniform system. parts? The culprit is this most likely shear-induced imbalances caused by splits in the runner SIGMASOFT predicts phenomenon enabling engineers to understand when this will result in a manufacturing or quality issue.

T R A C E R P AR T I C L E S
SIGMASOFT includes tracer particles to help visualize what is happening behind the flow front. These tracers are shown during the filling, packing, and cooling phases. The image shows how the tracers are moved in the packing phase. An abrupt reduction of packing pressure will cause the melt flow back into the runner. This result indicates that the fiber orientation will change and that the packed mass is not sufficient

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SIGMA Plastic Services, Inc.

F I B E R O RI EN T A T I O N
SIGMASOFT three dimensionally calculates the local distribution of the fibers in the volume model during the filling, packing, and cooling phase. It is necessary to simulate and observe the changes in fiber orientation throughout each phase of molding since the applied pressure in the packing phase can often change the fiber orientation compared to the filling phase. Precise input data is especially important for further finite-element calculations. For that, SIGMASOFT can provide the fiber orientation or even a complete anisotropic material model as an input parameter to external finite-element software packages.

C R Y S T A L LIZ A T I O N
Semi-crystalline thermoplastics perform a phased transformation during solidification. The simply structured macromolecules will form crystalline structures adjacent to each other. This process is defined by the characteristic transition region of the classical pvT diagram and is characterized by a significant drop of the specific volume.

SIGMASOFT predicts this behavior:

A consistently accurate calculation of the shrinkage & warpage for semi-crystalline thermoplastics and the important shrinkage mechanism is understood and considered.

The crystallization process is transparent and can be visualized. The crystallization rate of a part after ejection and complete cooling down is shown as well as those areas where high cooling rates impeded the complete crystallization. This is a clear indicator for post shrinkage.

If there is a high probability for post shrinkage then the production cycle needs to be changed or a tempering process should be considered.

Some laboratories now have the ability to measure pvT curves at increased cooling rates. It can be seen that with an increased cooling rate, crystallization is impeded and the specific volume of a plastic part does not decrease as much, and the potential for post-crystallization develops.

S I G MA L I NK TO FEA
Calculations are only as good as the foundation on which they stand. Polymer simulation results are in many cases only an important step towards the solution to a problem. Results such as Fiber orientation, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio are exported or "mapped" to a FEM mesh for further calculations in packages including:

ABAQUS I-DEAS PATRAN ANSYS

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RADIOSS

HyperView CT Daten. PERMAS

SIGMA Plastic Services, Inc.

S H R I NK A GE & W AR P AG E
The injection molder's biggest enemies are shrinkage and warpage. opponent fights with many different weapons:

The

Packing profile Fiber orientation Temperature distribution in the mold Crystallization Shrinkage constraint in the mold Stress relaxation But how do you stay in control? By knowing the tactics of the opponent and by taking the appropriate measures.

SIGMASOFT considers all the above mentioned effects. The simulation visualizes and clarifies the relevant effects. Having this knowledge makes you able to take corrective measures. After ejection, SIGMASOFT uses its elastic material model with temperature dependent mechanical material data to calculates the distortion, stresses and strains in the part at every time step until part reaches ambient temperature. 2nd heat cycles such as tempering or quenching may also be simulated.

W A R P A G E O F I N SE R TS
The unpredictable behavior of inserts causes a significant range of subsequent optimization costs. Can you predict the behavior of all inserts before you actually start building the mold?

Let's say you are designing a transistor that is insert-molded with a polymer. The project contains multiple materials (polymer, punching sheet, soldered joints, magnet, IC part, polyethylene insulation, etc.). A simulation can immediately tell you if the soldered joints and transistors will survive the injection molding process. Detailed information like temperature, pressure, or shear stress on the soldered joints can be accessed with few a mouse clicks. Stress developing in the inserts due to the load history of temperature, pressure, crystallization, and shrinkage constraints during the whole process is made transparent. Areas prone to failure can be identified and counter measures can be elaborated. All inserts, mold components, runner, and cavities are simply imported into SIGMASOFT and physically correctly modeled using their real material properties. You preheat inserts? SIGMASOFT considers this fact. Insert and part are connected in the subsequent packing, cooling, and heating phase, e.g. they heat up or cool down together. The different thermal and mechanical properties of insert and polymer lead to stresses, warpage, and perhaps to unbalanced curing in the part that may even cause part failure (break) or result in insufficient part properties (damping, oscillation, etc.)

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SIGMA Plastic Services, Inc.

O P T I M I Z I NG H O T R U NN E R S
SIGMASOFT is the most accurate software tool for analyzing hot runner systems. Hot runner systems are made of many different components that consist of many different materials. Each component and each material have a certain purpose to serve. But how do you understand the interaction of all those components? How can you make sure that each component and each material perform the assigned tasks? The advantage is that an exact and reliable analysis of the whole system can be performed without being restricted to software simplifications or assumptions. The entire hot runner system including all its components can be imported into SIGMASOFT.

Multiple injection molding cycles simulate the time-dependent interaction of thermo sensor positions, PI controllers, dimensions of the hot runner components (nozzle, manifold, drills, etc.), as well as electric performance of heater bands, and of polymer melt. This also considers the chosen insulation concept, e.g. air gap. SIGMASOFT tracer particles visualize the streamlines of the polymer on its way into the different cavities showing dependencies that explain why geometrical balanced runner layouts do not secure a uniform filling.

M U L T I- C O MP O N E N T AN A L Y SI S
Multi-component parts put high requirements on a stable production process as well as on the part. The accurate representation of the complex processes during production can only be achieved with a continuous, completely three dimensional simulation software that couples the calculations of all thermal processes. SIGMASOFT considers the processes: Between polymer & mold Between insert & mold Between insert & polymer Between polymer & polymer (component x) Simulation is the best way to obtain reliable information regarding temperature developments, adhesion & melt on, part stresses, weld lines, air entrapments, as well as shrinkage & warpage. SIGMASOFT simulates many multi-component processes: Transfer of the first component into a second mold via handling system Core back technique Turn table mold Index mold Although it is not a multi-component process, it should be mentioned that the encapsulation of inserts could also be simulated with SIGMASOFT.
http://www.3dsigma.com SIGMA Plastic Services, Inc.