Experimental investigation, modeling, and simulation of mold filling and cell structure development in foam injection molding

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Foam injection molding (FIM), as one of the most versatile technology in plastic foam processing, is capable of producing light-weight parts with complex three-dimensional geometries in a fast production cycle. Its applications range from packing and construction to automotive and aerospace industries. However, controlling the foam structure is difficult in this process. Most manufacturers rely on painstaking trial-and-error or similar techniques to fabricate foams with predetermined properties or functionalities. As a solution, design and analysis software has been developed by a number of companies. However, these softwares were designed for simulating mold-filling, weld-line location, warpage analysis, and temperature distribution for unfoamed solid parts. Currently, the state-of-the-art commercial software offers only inadequate results for prediction of foaming behavior in FIM. To expedite foam product design and to control foam morphology in a cost-effective way, a precise foam module is needed. In this regard, we are collaborating with the leading engineering software company, Autodesk Moldflow, to improve its existing foaming software module and develop reliable FIM simulation software. The current simulation module provided by Autodesk Moldflow uses a fitting method, which is inaccurate and limited to certain simple low-pressure trials. In this context, Autodesk Moldflow sought our help in improving their foam module. This will be accomplished through our new collaboration and by applying our visualization mold, which can accurately visualize the foaming phenomena. The overall approach is as follows: (i) visualization of the complex phenomena during foaming of semicrystalline polymer materials and their composites; (ii) derivation of mathematical formulations for the observed mechanisms and implementation of models; (iii) development of large-scale simulation algorithm for final foam morphology prediction. Together with the current NSERC CRDPJ 492659-15 project, the gained knowledge from this new CRD project will allow our partner to develop more accurate and reliable foaming module, and eventually allow the Canadian foam industries to be at a more competitive position in the global market.**********