OPTIMAL POSITIONING OF HEATING LINES IN A COMPRESSION MOLDING DIE USING THE BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD

A shape optimization problem is formulated to determine the optimal po sition of heating lines in a compression molding die. The objective of the problem is that the die cavity surface would be maintained by a p rescribed uniform temperature. A new boundary integral equation for th e sensitivity of the temperature in terms of the hole position is deri ved using the method of shape design sensitivity analysis. The boundar y element method is employed to analyze the temperature and its sensit ivity field. The presented sensitivity formulation is incorporated in an optimization routine. To demonstrate a numerical implementation, an example problem arising in thermal design of a compression molding di e is dealt with, showing the effectiveness and usefulness of the prese nted method.