Computer Simulation of Injection Mold Filling for

Viscoelastic Melts with Fountain Flow

M. R. KAMAL*, E. CHU, P. G. LAFLEUR**
Department of Chemical Engineering
McGitt University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
and
M. E. RYAN
Department of Chemical Engineering
State University of New York
Buffalo, New York
The ultimate properties of a molded article are directly
related to the microstructure of the article and are conse-
quently influenced by the thermomechanical history ex-
perienced by the melt during processing. The mold filling
behavior of thermoplastic polymer melts has been ana-
lyzed quantitatively by means of a computer simulation.
The mathematical model is based on the equations of
continuity, motion, and energy, along with appropriate
constitutive relations and relevant initial and boundary
conditions. The governing system of equations is solved
numerically by means of a Marker-and-Cell computational
scheme. Due to the significant implications for microstruc-
ture development, the fountain effect at the advancing
free surface is explicitly taken into consideration in the
simulation. The model yields data on filling time and melt
front position a s well as velocity, temperature, pressure,
and shear stress distributions within the mold cavity. The
rearrangement of the velocity and temperature profiles in
the vicinity of the melt front are considered in detail.
Experimental studies have also been undertaken in order
to verify the predictions of the computer simulation.

INTRODUCTION Thus, the induced stresses have longer time to

uring the filling stage of thermoplastics in-
D jection molding, the non-Newtonian and
compressible polymer melt is injected to fill the
empty cold cavity. Polymer melt elements are
subjected to both shear and elongational
stresses during this process. Shear stresses are
generally predominant. The net effect of shear
and elongational stresses is the orientation of
polymer chains in the direction of the applied
stress. The injected melt starts to cool and solid-
ify as soon as it touches the walls of the mold.
This produces a highly oriented skin next to the
mold surface. On the other hand, the bulk of
the melt cools very little during this stage, due
to the low thermal conductivity of the polymer.
To whom all correspondence should be addressed.
.*Present address: IMRI. 75 Mortagne Blvd..Bouchervllle guebec. Canada J4G
6Y4.
190
relax.
In the early 1950s, Spencer and Gilmore (1)
employed an empirical equation for capillary
flow and coupled it with a quasi steady-state
approximation to calculate the filling time.
Since then, different models have been pro-
posed to describe the molding cycle with varying
degrees of complexity (2-9). These models, how-
ever, have generally neglected the melt front
region, i.e., the fountain effect and the transient
and inertial terms, as well as the viscoelastic
nature of the polymer melt. Still, the models
provide good representations of the global flow
characteristics related to the filling of the mold
cavity. In fact, it is reasonable to state that it is
possible to obtain fair estimates of variables,
like filling time, pressure profile, and the posi-
tion of the melt front by using a simple one-
POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, MID-FEBRUARY, 1986, Vol. 26, No. 3
 Computer Simulation of Injection Mold Filling f o r Viscoelastic Melts with Fountain Flow
dimensional creeping flow representation and
purely viscous constitutive equation.
A more complete description of mold filling
would require the calculation of detailed veloc-
ity, temperature and pressure profiles at all
points in the mold, including the position and
shape of the advancing front. For the case of a
crystalline polymer, the degree of crystallinity
and stress fields would influence the degree of
orientation and give rise to a variety of morpho-
logical zones in the molded parts ( 10- 12).Thus,
a comprehensive model should incorporate
crystallization kinetics.
In this paper, we outline the features and
results of a comprehensive computer simula-
tion of the filling stage of the injection molding
process to obtain predictions regarding temper-
ature, pressure, velocity, stress, and structure
of the melt front region. The simulation incor-
porates a viscoelastic rheological equation and
takes non-isothermal crystallization kinetics
into consideration.
EXPERIMENTAL
The resin employed in this study is a com-
mercial injection-molding-grade high-density
polyethylene, Sclair 2908, supplied by Du Pont
of Canada Limited and designated as EX2 in
earlier reports (14).Shear viscosity and the first
normal stress difference were obtained as func-
tions of temperature and shear rate. For low
shear rates, the Rheometrics mechanical spec-
trometer, operating in the cone-and-plate mode,
was employed. An Instron Universal Testing
instrument was used in conjunction with a n
Instron capillary rheometer to obtain data at
high shear rates. The true shear rate was cal-
culated using the Rabinowitch correction.
The time-temperature superposition principle
( 13) was used to evaluate the relaxation time at
different temperatures from that at the refer-
ence temperature,
a,. A( To)
A( 7‘)= (1)
where X is the relaxation time at temperature
T, Tois the reference temperature, and at is the
shift factor. The temperature dependence of the
shift factor was investigated (14),and a simple
exponential, or Arrhenius-type, equation may
be written as
a, = B.exp(EA/RT) (2)
where EAmay be termed the “shift factor acti-
vation energy.”
Experiments were conducted on a 2% ounce
reciprocating-screw injection molding machine.
The injection pressure during filling may be
regulated by the injection speed and injection
pressure valves. Cooling of the cavity was as-
sured by circulating water in the mold. The
temperature of the water was controlled within
+2”Cby employing a heating and cooling unit.
The cavity used was a rectangular fan-gated
mold with dimensions: 9.1 cm by 6.35 cm by
POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, MID-FEBRUARY, 1986, Vol. 26, No. 3
3.18 mm. The cavity was equipped with three
pressure transducers and two thermocouples.
A schematic diagram of the rectangular mold
and the positions of the measuring devices is
shown in Fig. 1 . In addition to measuring the
pressure, the transducers were used to monitor
the time required for the melt to travel from one
position to the other. The nozzle of the injection
molding barrel was also equipped with a pres-
sure transducer and a thermocouple, and a ve-
locity transducer was mounted on the screw in
order to calculate the amount of polymer being
injected into the cavity.
THEORETICAL
The filling stage is mainly concerned with the
unsteady flow of a hot non-Newtonian polymer
melt into a cold cavity. Hence, the analysis has
to consider unsteady-state free surface flow
coupled with transient cooling. The process
may be described mathematically by the basic
equations of change.
In the proposed treatment, the following as-
sumptions are made:
(a) the fluid is viscoelastic and incompressi-
ble,
(b) body forces are negligible,
(c) variable gradients in the Y-direction are
negligible, leading to a two-dimensional
flow (fan-gated mold), and
(d) the pressure term in the energy equation
is neglected due to the numerical compli-
cations involved ( 15).
Based on the above assumptions, the equa-
tions of change reduce to the following dimen-
sionless forms:
Continuity:
-au+ - =aw
o (3)
ax az
1 0
Heat Flux Sensor
0 Pressure Transducer
0 Thermocouple
Fig. 1 . Schematic representation of the mold cavity and
locations of the measuring devices.
191
 M.R. Kamat, E. Chu, P. G.Lafteur, andM. E. Ryan
Momentum: where
au dU
ws = K-U,"
-at+ u - +dU
a xw - az GL,"
(4)
=---- -
Since the shear rates experienced in the in-
ax Re dX jection molding process are relatively high, the
Power-Law relationship is used in the present
aw aw
- + u - +awx -
aw study to predict the shear viscosity, which may
at az be represented by
(5)
ap 77 = K (n/ 2 )[" -' )/ 2 ( 1 1)
The second invariant of the rate of deformation
tensor, n, is expressed as
Energy Equation:

The development of crystallinity with time

has been followed by employing the non-iso-
thermal crystallization kinetics equation pro-

-2
RePr
(.- au
dX
aw
- + T Z Z - + 7,z
az
au
az +
- 7, -
ax
posed by Nakamura, e t al. ( 1 7 ) ,

where
pUc2-"L:
where x is the degree of phase transforma-
Re = tion at time t, K A ( T )is a parameter related to
K ' the crystallization rate constant of the Avrami
KU,"-' KC,,L,~-" equation, ZA(T), by the relation KA( T ) =
Br = Pr =
(T, - Tw)kLc"-" k UC1-" (ZA(T))""*, and n* is the so-called Avrami expo-
nent. The kinetic data for the resin used in this
In the present work, the White-Metzner ( 1 6 ) study were obtained in this laboratory.
modification of the Maxwell model, using the The above set of equations was solved using
contravariant form of the Oldroyd derivative, the Marker-and-Cell method, which is one of
;+ X(n)a:-
the best known finite-difference techniques for
= ,(rI)Li (7) solving free surface transient problems.
at
In order to solve the system of equations for
has been employed to describe the rheological the field variables everywhere in the mesh sys-
behavior of the polymer melt, where both X and tem, as shown in Fig. 2, the variables must be
77 are functions of the second invariant of the defined at the boundaries. At the centerline,
flow field, and the usual assumption is to relate there is a slip-free boundary which has a sym-
X to 9 through a modulus, G, so that X = q/G. metric character. The transverse velocity com-
The corresponding dimensionless forms of the ponent is zero, and both the pressure and lon-
components of the White-Metzner equation gitudinal velocity gradients in the transverse
may be expressed as direction are also zero. The temperature distri-
bution is symmetrical around Z = 0. Hence, we
TXX+ W S 7- ( -a?,+, u - +
d7xx w--
dTxx have
G dt ax az
2au 2d u au
- -ax T x x - -T X Z ) = 2rl
az ax

(9)
2a w 2a w
--ax 7 x 2 - -a z T Z Z ) = 277
dW
{, 2:
13
FI.
w .
-i-
-.
ag

2 6
1 .. '. . .a . . .I:. . .li. ..2". . .I,+. . .*8. . . 32
Y- CLSTER L I X

au
-- ax
dZ 7 z - aw T x x ) = 77 (E aw
au + E) Fig. 2. Schematic representation of cell labels and corn-
puting mesh, showing thef ield variables and their points
of def initions.

192 POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, MID-FEBRUARY, 1986, Vol. 26, No. 3
 Computer Simulation of Injection Mold Fillingfor Viscoelastic Melts with Fountain Flow
apj du/ = o ,
X.0.t = O9 a2 x.0.t
1141
At the top of the mold, a no-slip rigid boundary
is applied. The velocity components, both nor-
mal and tangential to the wall, vanish at the
wall. The thin solid layer produced during the
filling stage is assumed to be negligible, com-
pared to the size of the mesh system. At the
solid-fluid interface, the heat flux may be re-
lated to the difference between the temperature
at the interface and that in the fluid. A constant
heat transfer coefficient is, therefore, assumed,
and for the other variables, we have
Ulx.HJ2.t = 0
where Hc is the thickness of the cavity.
The inlet velocity profile at the entrance of
the mold is assumed to be that of a steady, one-
dimensional, fully developed Power-Law fluid
flowing between two flat plates. The melt tem-
perature at the entrance to the cavity is consid-
ered to be uniform. Hence, we may write
0, T1o.z.t = T m
W1o.z.t= (191
where Wc is the width of the cavity, s = l/n,
and Q is the volumetric flow rate measured at
the nozzle.
Finally, the physical principle, on which the
free surface boundary conditions are based, re-
quires no momentum flux crossing the free
surface of the fluid. The free surface boundary
conditions, therefore, reflect the vanishing of
the normal and tangential stresses at the melt
front free surface. If the curvature of the
surface is small, the tangential and normal
stresses may be expressed as
normal stress condition:
au
ax + P,
P = 27 -
tangential stress condition:
where P , is the external pressure applied to the
POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, MID-FEBRUARY, 1986, Vol. 26, NO. 3
fluid surface, assuming zero stress on the air
side.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For the mathematical simulation of the filling
stage, the equations of continuity, momentum,
and energy, coupled with the constitutive equa-
tion and appropriate boundary conditions de-
scribed previously, are employed to form the
central core of the computer program. In the
following discussion, the different variables
calculated by the model are presented and com-
pared with experimental data.
Figure 3 gives the positions of the melt front,
as a function of time, under different conditions
of injecting melt temperature and wall temper-
ature. The experimental points were obtained
by the instantaneous response of the pressure
transducers, as explained earlier. Since the ac-
tive diameter of a transducer is approximately
9 percent of the cavity length, readings are
expressed in terms of a range of values, rather
than as discrete points. The filling time re-
corded experimentally was 1.O 1 second for the
melt and wall temperatures of 190 and 1O"C,
respectively, compared to a slightly overpre-
dicted value of 1.13 seconds. The model shows
a decrease in the filling time, to 1.025 seconds,
with a n increase in the melt temperature of
2OO0C, when the injection pressure was main-
tained at the same level as in the case of 190°C.
The melt front appears to progress at the same
rate for wall temperatures of 10 and 40"C, while
maintaining a n injection temperature of 190°C.
This is due to the constant volumetric flow rate
employed during the filling stage and the small
temperature differences obtained in the cavity
during filling.
Figure 4 contains plots of the longitudinal
velocity profiles, U.for different positions in the
cavity, indicated in Fig. 2, at the end of filling
stage. The centerline velocity increases, as the
melt progresses in the mold, and the velocity
near the wall diminishes. This is a character-
1.0
0.8
i"
i
:
y 0 6
-2
c
m
5 0.4 MELT- WAL1.
2
c ~-
TESIP. TEMP.
"C ,'C
2 1-0 10
700 10
a 0.2
ESPERI'IEYTAL D.4TB
190 10
0
0 0 4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
0.2
TIME, s
Fig. 3. Progression of the meltfront, as afunction of time,
a t diJferent conditions of injecting melt temperature and
wall temperature.
193
 M.R. Kamal, E . Chu, P . G. Lafleur, and M. E . Ryan

0 0 2 0.1 0 6 0 s 1 0

nIvr\sIo\LEss DISTAKF

DI?lENSIO*I ESS DISTANCF

Fig. 4 . Gapwise distributions of longitudinal velocity in
the cavity, at the end of the filling stage, at different
conditions of injecting melt temperature and wall tem-
perature.
Fig. 5. Gapwise distributions of transverse velocity in
the cavity, at the end of the filling stage, at d g e r e n t
conditions of injecting melt temperature and wall tem-
perature.

istic of nonisothermal flow, resulting from com-

bined effects of cooling and viscous heating.
The increase of viscosity near the wall is the
cause of the lower velocities. Near the free sur- -
-
-
face, the velocity profile at the centerline tends I:1
4
to flatten out. This phenomenon is due to the 9-
so-called fountain effect (18). and may be ex- L

plained by the fact that the melt velocity is zero

at the cavity wall. Consequently, some radial or
extensional flow occurs at the melt front, bring-
ing the material from the central midplane re- 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.G 0.8 1 0 1.2
gion to the wall. The present model predicts a TIUT. s
sudden increase in the magnitude of the velocity Fig. 6. Comparison between experimental and predicted
near the wall in the melt front region. pressure-time profiles during filling at d5fferent condi-
Figure 5 shows the transverse velocities, W, tions of injecting melt temperature and wall temperature.
at different positions at the end of the filling
stage, plotted against the transverse position in 4

the thickness direction. In the vicinity of the

melt front, the transverse velocity becomes sig- 6
nificant due to the fountain effect. A s expected,
the velocity is zero at the centerline as well as ' 4
at the wall, with a maximum magnitude occur-
ring at some intermediate position. The length b
of the melt front region is approximately equal
to the thickness of the mold. The model also
predicts that the magnitudes of both longitudi- 0
nal and transverse velocity components in- 0 O n 0-1
DI'IE\SIO\L'SS
0 ,
DIS?I\CE
0 8 1 0

crease as the melt temperature increases. This
is to be expected, as the increase in melt tem-
perature causes a n increase in the volumetric
flow rate at a given injection pressure. An in-
crease in the wall temperature, however, only
leads to a slight increase in the longitudinal and
transverse velocities near the wall, due to the
effect of the temperature field on the viscosity.
The change in pressure during the molding
cycle was monitored with the pressure trans-
ducers. However, during the filling stage, it was
not possible to use the reading from the third
transducer because of its proximity to the end
of the cavity. The pressure profiles at the end
of the filling stage, as functions of time and
distance, are shown in Figs. 6 and 7, respec-
tively.
194
Fig. 7 . Predicted pressure profiles along the cavity, at
the end of the filling stage, at dflerent conditions of
injecting melt temperature and wall temperature.
Temperature profiles at the end of the filling
stage are plotted versus distance from the wall
at various downstream positions, as shown in
Fig. 8. The temperature at the entrance of the
mold is uniform and equal to the melt temper-
ature. A temperature profile develops away
from the gate, and the lowest temperatures are
located at the far end of the mold. However, the
temperatures increase dramatically in the melt
front region. This is caused by the fountain
effect, which allows hot melt to flow from the
center of the mold toward the cavity wall.
POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, MID-FEBRUARY, 1986, Vol. 26, No. 3
 Computer Simulation of Injection Mold Fillingfor Viscoelastic Melts w i t h Fountain Flow

The mesh system employed in the present

study was not fine enough to permit the calcu-
lation of crystallinity development in the very
thin solid layer usually formed near the wall.
Hence, a finer mesh was adopted, but neglecting
the fountain effect, in order to economize the
computing time. The model shows that crystal-
lization may occur in a layer of 150 p.
The knowledge of the stress field development
during the injection molding cycle is essential
for estimating the orientation distributions in
the final molded articles. Figure 9 shows the
distribution in the thickness direction of the
shear and normal stress components at differ--
ent positions along the cavity, at the end of the
filling. The shear and normal stresses are zero
at the center and maximum near the wall. The o 0 2 n i nri I I R 11)
absolute magnitudes of the shear stresses and l l l l l ' U S l O N l I $B l l l S T A Y C 1
normal stresses decrease as the melt ap- Fig. 9. Gapwise distributions of shear and normal
proaches the front zone. This may be explained stresses in the cavity, a t the end of the filling stage. at
by the fact that there is a substantial decrease different conditions of injecting temperature and wall
in the X-component of the velocity and lower temperature.
viscosity due to higher melt temperature in the
vicinity of the melt front. The model predicts
an increase in shear stress for higher melt tem- of a transverse velocity component. Moreover,
perature, i.e.. higher flow rate in this case, as the temperature distribution in the melt front
shown in Fig. 9. This may be explained by the region is dramatically modified by the fountain
fact that higher melt velocity results in a higher effect. Fountain flow also influences the stress
shear stress. The effect of injection temperature distributions near the melt front.
on the normal stress appears to be negligible
for the narrow injection temperature range con- NOMENCLATURE
sidered in this study.
Br = Dimensionless Brinkman number
CONCLUSION H, = Thickness of the cavity
K = Consistency index
The mold filling stage of the injection molding k = Thermal conductivity
process of thermoplastics resins may be fully L, = Length of the cavity
described in terms of the equations of conser- n = Power-Law index
vation of mass, momentum, and energy, cou- P = Hydrostatic pressure
pled with appropriate thermodynamic relation- Pr = Dimensionless Prandtl number
ships and a set of constitutive relations which Re = Dimensionless Reynolds number
describe the behavior of the material under the T, = Injecting melt temperature
influence of stress and thermal fields. The T, = Wall temperature
model presented for the analysis of the filling U = Dimensionless longitudinal velocity
stage has shown that the predictions of velocity, V, = Characteristic velocity
temperature and stress profiles support the as- W = Dimensionless transverse velocity
sumptions of a quasi steady-state, fully devel- Ws = Dimensionless Weissenberg number
oped flow in the main part of the cavity during = Rate of deformation tensor
the filling process. The magnitude of the foun-
tain flow was demonstrated by the development 9 = Non-Newtonian viscosity
7 = Shear stress
210 I I I I I I I I I
p = Density

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196 POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, MID-FEBRUARY, 7986, YO!. 26, NO. 3