Transient free‐surface flows in injection mold filling

AbstractAdvancing and colliding flow fronts are important fluid mechanical problems in injection mold filling. These are small‐scale, transient free‐surface flows with a significant impact on the molecular orientation of molded parts. This paper describes a numerical technique for the simulation of transient free‐surface flows. The algorithm combines a Galerkin/finite‐element discretization of the governing equations with a predictor‐corrector scheme for integration in time, and determines simultaneously the flow field and the free surface at every time step. The method is applied to the start‐up of a fluid flow initially at rest and impingement of two flow fronts to form a weldline. Comparison of simulation with available experiments on the start‐up problem shows very good agreement. Numerical tracking of fluid elements clarifies various aspects of flow‐induced deformation of the material.

Transient free‐surface flows in injection mold filling Journal Articles