Numerical Simulation of the Mold Filling Process and its Experimental Validation

The present study deals with the simulation of the filling process in injection molding using Ansys CFX and its experimental validation. For this purpose, the filling process of an exemplary mold is investigated numerically as well as experimentally at different time steps. For the numerical investigation, a suitable model is elaborated in Ansys CFX, which enables such a comparison. In particular, the representation of a suitable viscosity model for polymers is not common in Ansys CFX. Therefore, the Carreau-WLF viscosity model is adapted for the considered polymer Schulamind 66 SK 1000 and integrated into Ansys CFX. The contribution focuses on the comparison of the numerically calculated flow front contour and the respective filling levels of the melt from experiments. Furthermore, a detailed numerical analysis of temperature and viscosity profiles is included in order to illustrate the effect of shear-induced temperature changes and the interplay between the temperature field and the viscosity of the injected polymer. In conclusion, the numerical model nicely fits the experimental results despite some slight deviations in the early filling stages.