A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Advanced Technologies

Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1996

Plastic injection molding is one of the most important methods of manufacturing plastic products. The injection mold is the heart of the injection molding process. The quality of the injection products and the economics of the process are critically influenced by the designers' skill and prevailing technological conditions. This study was conducted to develop a computer-aided design methodology that design engineers could use to design injection molds for small and medium mold shops. In order to optimal product and mold design, existing and new methods are developed for mold flow analysis based on the standard facilities available in CAD/CAM systems. These are cooling time calculation, flow front design, temperature calculation on each flow front and cooling channel design for achieving optimal mold design. These methods can serve as bench mark to test existing injection mold design and to optimize design. The methodology developed was used in a case study concerning the designing of a bottle carrier injection mold based on the general design considerations and flow fronts analysis without the use of mold flow software. The designed mold is tested by using C-FLOW simulation software to simulate the flow in the cavity and to get optimal molding processing conditions. The designed filling image is compared with the results of C-FLOW analysis and the conclusion shows that the designed mold is optimal.