Model development and validation of a ceramic core injection molding process

In this study, a thermal-fluid finite element analysis software package calledProCAST was used to validate computer modeling of a ceramic injection molding process by comparing the modeling results with experimental data. The experiments were performed in an industrial environment under actual manufacturing conditions.The computer modeling was performed at the Advanced Casting Simulation and MoldDesign Laboratory at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Thermocouples were used to collect the experimental cooling curve data. The results from the computer simulations were then validated by comparing them to the experimental temperature data. The ceramic parts that were modeled are highly intricate three-dimensional parts. The research modeled filling and heat transfer with solidification and included three-dimensional, transient, and non-riewtoniari effects. Five different computer simulations were run with varying interfacial thermal boundary conditions and a uniform steady inlet velocity. Various filling patterns and shear rate heating were observed as different interfacial thermal boundary conditions were used in the computer simulations. The modeling results that agree most with the experimental results have heat transfer coefficients of 1,800 W/(m² K) and 2,200 W/(m²K).