Mold filling simulation: Arburg Allrounder injection molding machines are smarter

By integrating mold filling simulation into the Gestica control system of the Allrounder injection molding machines, Arburg has set a new milestone in assistive functio.

The significance of this feature was demonstrated at Fakuma 201

During the Arburg Technology Festival in March 2019, a new stage of development was presented: The mould filling simulation is displayed directly on the running Allrounder injection moulding machi.

For this complex project, Arburg partnered with simulation specialist Simcon, who has many years of experience in the injection molding indust.

"During the development of Gestica, our aim was to bring more operator assistance functions to this control system," explains .

Experienced injection molding simulation partner

When looking for a partner, Arburg chose Simcon in Würselen, Germany, as the two companies have already collaborated on other projec.

As a simulation specialist, Simcon is familiar with the current state of mold design, said the company's general manager, .

common progress

"The challenge lies in the material, whose properties change during the molding proce.

Optimizing the injection molding process configuration requires a great deal of expertise from the installation technician, since only the material and its processing temperature, as well as the required metering, are kno.

The challenge now is optimal filling of the mou.

Through the injection profile, the flow path of the plastic melt can be influenced, but when special changes are made to the screw stroke or metering, the installation technician has no way of knowing where the current melt front is located in the cavi.

Since overfilling can take a significant amount of time to get the part out of the mold, this problem must be avoided as much as possible, which is where the installation technician needs to be experienc.

In the future, assistance systems such as integrated filling simulation models will increasingly assist machine operators interactively and graphical.

Combining mold filling simulation with the current state of injection molding

Combining mold filling simulation with the current state of injection molding is an extremely complex ta.

To properly visualize the melt flow front, computational models and algorithms are required, taking into account properties such as screw and check valve properties, and material compressibili.

To this end, Arburg and Simcon have bundled each other's expertise and have already demonstrated the synchronicity of the screw motion at the 2019 Technology Festival, directly through a computational simulation model integrated on the machi.

The fill pattern of the part being produced is displayed on the interface of the Gestica control system, and the fill level as a function of screw travel is visualiz.

As valuable time is saved, professional installers can also benefit from this information, they no longer have to interpret the injection profile, but can observe the flow front in a 3D view of the cavi.