March 10, 2021
Scientific Cooling – it’s not Rocket Science
Cooling time in injection molding can represent as much as 80% of a cycle, yet it’s often an afterthought!
Typically in the plastics industry the technical focus is on mold design, Injection Molding Machine specifications and material preparation. Only rarely is the focus on the regulation, monitoring and cooling time in injection molding. By having a strong understanding of scientific cooling, designers, mold builders, tooling engineers, and mold technicians can reach new levels of efficiency in mold cooling management.
Through optimized cooling there is great potential to reduce cycle times, improve part quality consistency and overall production efficiencies.
At Turner Group, we turn to Smartflow‘s design and modeling tools to help customers build an optimal system, including scientific cooling.
It starts with the basics – choose a balanced manifold.
Optimized cooling starts with choosing and sizing the right manifolds. The best designed water manifold provides as much water flowing through all the ports as through the manifold end. You can design the manifold you need using a tool like Smartflow’s state-of-the-art 3D design tool, Manifold Builder, an easy-to-use online resource.Don’t drive blindly and hope for the best.
Flow regulators are recommended on the return side of a cooling water loop for best performance, this way you can balance and monitor your flow. Flow Regulators help injection molders use the three R’s of Scientific Cooling: Reveal, Record, Repeat Electronic Flowmeters automatically adjust the connected flow regulator opening, resulting in a more consistent flow rate and greater control over cooling water conditions without manual adjustments. Automatic flow regulation compensates for changes in pressure that can occur during normal production due to in-line press startup or shutdown.Turbulent vs Laminar Flow in Injection Mold Cooling
Turbulent water flow is much more efficient at removing heat in a mold cooling system than laminar flow. By ensuring turbulent flow using FCI (Fluid Characteristic Indication) Technology, less water can be used in the molding process, saving valuable resources and capacity for other online equipment. The Smartflow Reynolds Number Calculator is provided as a service to the injection molding community as an easy-to-use online resource.Just do the math.
Many molds have multiple circuits of various sizes and configurations. In such cases each circuit might remove a different percentage of the heat input. Trying out different molding and cooling variables is simple and quick with the Smartflow online calculator.Get connected.
In today’s world it is all about process transparency and data collection. Accountability, transparency, and traceability can be paramount in critical part molding such as medical devices.