On the Use of COMSOL Multiphysics to Understand and Optimize the Filling Phase in the Injection and Micro-Injection Molding Process

The work presented here deals with the simulation of the cavity filling stage of the injection and micro-injection molding process for thermoplastic materials. COMSOL Multiphysics gives us the means to take into consideration some other aspects usually neglected in commercial 3D softwares dedicated to polymer processing. In particular, tracking of the flow front is based on a Level Set approach. Results are presented for a Newtonian and non-Newtonian polymer, and in an isothermal or thermal dependant configuration. The calculations are compared to experimental results on a polypropylene.