Investigation towards the impact of conformal cooling on the performance of injection moulds for the packaging industry

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis represents the impact of the conformal cooling on the performance of injectionmoulds for the packaging industry. An existing, commonly used, off the shelf plastic part forthe packaging industry, was selected for this study. Five different cooling layouts weresimulated on the software package Moldflow Plastics Adviser TM to identify the shortcomingsof conventional cooling. The simulation went through an iteration process until the optimumcooling and part quality was achieved.A comparative experiment was done to determine the difference in performance of injectionmoulding using conventional I conformal cooling layouts. The manufacture of two differentmould designs is explained. Modern manufacturing methods, which are able to producecomplex conformal cooling designs, are also discussed.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University