Numerical simulation of mold filling in injection molding using a three-dimensional finite volume approach

This work presents an implicit finite volume approach to simulate the three -dimensional mold filling problems encountered during the injection molding . The described numerical model deals with the three-dimensional isothermal flow of incompressible, high-viscous Newtonian fluids with moving interfac es. The collocated finite volume method and the SIMPLE segregated algorithm are used to discretize and solve the Navier-Stokes equation. In addition, a bounded compressive high-resolution differencing scheme is adopted to sol ve the advection equation to capture the interface on a Eulerian framework. This approach effectively solves the flow field in terms of CPU time and m emory storage as well as the complicated three-dimensional melt front topol ogy. Several two- and three-dimensional examples are presented to validate the presented approach and illustrate its capabilities. This method can mor e accurately predict the critical three-dimensional phenomena encountered d uring mold filling than the existing Hele-Shaw analysis model. The presente d numerical approach has been proven to be a highly effective and flexible tool for simulating mold filling problems. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.