Before the Lab:
You need to initialize your IT account if you have not done this yet. Please check if your IT account works before coming to the Lab.
Make a sub-directory called lab under your home directory by typing mkdir lab.
Once you receive the four files (in order to run C-Mold) from your lab supervisor, save all files to the lab directory:
lab/plate2d_1.fem
lab/plate2d_2.fem
lab/plate.mtl
lab/plate.prc
Laboratory Location: 302 Mech E
Laboratory Supervisor: Xiaoyan (Maggie) Cheng (xywolf@me.umn.edu)
Objective:
Injection molding is a plastic process in which molten plastic is injected into a mold cavity. The plastic subsequently solidifies, forming the part. Process models are useful for process design, i.e. tooling (mold/gates/vents/runners) design and setting processing conditions. The primary objective of this lab is to demonstrate how process models and numerical simulations can be used to design tooling. The simulation is to be performed for injection molding of a license plate frame.
Problem:
Investigate the effects of number and location of gates on air traps, weld lines, melt front progression and velocity distribution for two different mold gate configurations. Recommend a mold gate configuration and air vent locations based on the mold filling simulation results. Weld lines should be located in low stress regions of the part and the direction of weld lines with respect to stress direction should be considered.
Procedure:
You will use your IT computer lab accounts for this laboratory. Xiaoyan (Maggie) Cheng, the lab supervisor, will e-mail 4 files to your account by Friday morning (thus, it is imperative that you let Dr. Erdal know of your IT lab e-mail address - see announcements for March 6). Two of these files are Pro/E mold models of the plate frame for two different gate configurations. The other two files are the material and the process data needed to run the simulation for molding of the two configurations. Do not erase these files from your account.
You will use the C-MOLD simulation package in the IT lab computers. Your laboratory supervisor will explain the procedure for running the simulation as well as describe the items in the material and process data files. You will run the mold filling simulations for the two gate configurations and observe the filling pattern. Click here for C-MOLD tutorial.
Reports:
Your report must be typed, and include the following sections: Objective, Procedure, Results and Discussion. The report for this lab session should not exceed 2 pages (excluding any printed graphs).
In the Procedure section, you will give a brief procedural outline of your simulation.
In the Results section include:
In the Discussion section, you should mainly answer the following questions (but feel free to add any other observations, comments you might have) :
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