Project door panel

Volume: 1 mold
Lead time: 1 week

Job definition:
Analysis of the optimal number and position for all hot runner nozzles to reduce weld lines and cycle time.

Difficulty:
Especially in cascade technology, many mould makers are using oversized hot runners in order to optimise processes such as weld lines or pressure results during the sampling process.
The most challenging example we encountered during our work to date was a mould built with 7 hot runner nozzles from which only 3 were finally used in the production.

Course of action:
Our client provided us with product data and material specifications. Then we analysed the part with multiple calculations, using 3 and 5 possible nozzles with different positions and valve gate timings. As during all the calculations the part needed to be meshed only once, we were able to analyse 10 different variants in a very short lead time. The calculation results were then analysed, in terms of criteria, weld lines, melt flow, cooling time and warpage.
The best variant was then realised in the mould.

Results:
The part produced with an optimal constructed hot runner and gate position was optimally filled from the first samples without any visible weld lines. The cycle time was 7 seconds lower than the preceding part.