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Abstract

This report investigates the filling phenomena of the water assisted injection moulding process by using a flow visualisation technique. Experiments were carried out on an 80-tonne injection-moulding machine equipped with a laboratory-developed water injection unit. The material used was semi-crystalline polypropylene. A flow visualisation mould was specially designed and made for this study. A high-speed video camera was used to record the mould filling phenomena of rectangular cavities with three-channel geometry and layouts: a flat plate, a plate with two zones of different depths and a plate with symmetric ribs. The interaction between the assisting water and the polymer melt during moulding was observed, and insight into the water penetration behaviour was summarised.

Keywords

FLOW VISUALISATION WATER ASSISTED INJECTION MOULDING PROCESS MOULD FILLING CHANNEL GEOMETRY CHANNEL LAYOUT

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Flow visualisation of water assisted injection moulding process

Abstract

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References