Simulation of the solidification kinetics and crystallisation kinetics at injection moulding

W. Michaeli, M. Kratz, and M. Bussmann

Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University

Pontstraße 49, 52062 Aachen, Germany

Abstract

During the moulding process of semi-crystalline plastic parts inner structures are locally created during solidification. These local structures dominate the final parts properties to a great extent. A big influence in this is the crystallisation process during the cooling of the part. The crystallisation by the spherulite growth plays a dominant role. A model to predict the spherulite growth was implemented by us in a three-dimensional injection moulding simulation tool using the Finite Element Method. The implementation and first results are presented and discussed in this paper.