Optimizing the Die Design Parameters of a Two Cavity Injection Moulding Tool for a Fan Blade Back Cover using Mold Flow Analysis

For producing intricate and complex shape plastic parts with higher dimensional accuracy, injection molding method is widely used. Presently, plastic industries are under great pressure due to the globalization of the market, the short life cycle of the product, increasing diversity, the high demand of product quality, meeting requirements by adapting various advanced technologies like CAD/CAM/CAE, concurrent engineering and so on for the development of the injection molded part. The design of a mold is of high priority for product quality and economic processing and also it acts as an integral part of plastic injection molding since the quality of final plastic part is greatly reliant on injection mold. A two cavity injection molding tool design and its mold flow analysis for a given component was taken up according to the industrial specification. Polypropylene (PP) is thermoplastic material used for Fan Blade Back Cover due to its light-weight, durability, recyclable, rugged and resistant to chemical solvents. The design of tool includes the design of core insert, cavity inserts, number of cavities in the mold, type of mold, feeding system, side cores and production quantity. After thorough study and necessary calculations of the component for achieving shape, size, critical parameters, to help in proper selection of parting surface, ejection system, feeding system, selection of suitable injection molding machine based on clamping force calculation and the manufacture of mold to produce better-quality components was done. 3D virtual models are created using the Solidworks software. The 2D drawings were drafted using Auto-CAD software. The core and cavities are extracted through modeling software and Mold Flow Analysis was carried out. Complete mold design is designed after conducting the mold flow analysis and optimizing the gating and the runner design by CAE software for flow and solidification of the liquid material into the cavities. It determines the optimal combination of part geometry, material choice and processing parameters to produce quality finished parts. This work also reveals results of fill analysis, pack analysis, warp analysis and cooling analysis. Finally, based on the analysis results, the manufactured mold produced was tested for the production of final product, with precise specification of the industry requirement. The present work can also be further extended for a detailed stress and fatigue analysis for the core and cavity inserts to obtain improved tool life.