Lg. Olson et al., Rotational molding of plastics: Comparison of simulation and experimental results for an axisymmetric mold, POLYM ENG S, 40(8), 2000, pp. 1758-1764
We present a validation study comparing the mold wall temperature estimates
from an axisymmetric thermal finite element simulation of the rotational m
olding process with temperature data obtained during experiments conducted
on industrial-grade rotational molding equipment. The finite element model
simulates the heat transfer processes involved in rotational molding throug
h the end of powder deposition, and uses an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian t
echnique to track the growing molten plastic layer, The experiments were co
nducted with nine different operating conditions on a single axisymmetric m
old shape. The simulation results for mold wall temperature agreed well wit
h the experimental data under all of the conditions tested.