[Injection Molding] Gravity direction in molding

Junta_20361
Junta_20361 New Altair Community Member
edited December 2021 in Community Q&A

Hi expert,

Do we have any option to define the gravity direction in inspire mold?

As i know, we can define the mold orientation which is the opening direction of the mold.

But what about the gravity? Gravity will also affect the filling behavior inside the mold as well.

Take an example as below image:

image

The mold orientation has been defined already (Y - axis)

But the gravity direction on X or Z will cause different flow pattern inside the mold.

Answers

  • Milan Pradyumanbhai Raval
    Milan Pradyumanbhai Raval
    Altair Employee
    edited March 2021

    Hello,

    Currently Inspire Mold does not consider Gravity direction as  most of the cases it is not necessary to define one. However, This is in development stage to add gravity direction in Inspire Mold as in some conditions and criteria, gravity can play role in Molding simulation and process. It will be there in upcoming version of Inspire Mold.

    Thank you and Regards,

    Milan

  • NarendraSingh
    NarendraSingh
    Altair Employee
    edited December 2021

    Hello @Junta ,

    Gravity will have a minimal influence on most injection-molded plastic parts, and its effect can be ignored. This is because most plastic parts are considered thin-walled, and the high viscosity polymer and high pressure-driven flow ensure that the polymer melt is always in contact with cavity walls. Plastic near the cavity wall also gets freeze during flow; all these factors ensure that filling has little or no influence on gravity.

    For plastic parts with very thick walls, select polymer type, process conditions, mold orientation, gate location, and other factors, gravity may influence flow patter. The molding solver does not support the gravity term, and it is in the development plan.

     

    Thank you,

    Narendra Singh

  • Junta_20361
    Junta_20361 New Altair Community Member
    edited December 2021

    Hi MILAN and Narendra,

    Thank you both for your answers