Feasibility evaluation of gas-assisted heating for mold surface temperature control during injection molding process

Dynamic mold surface temperature control has the advantage of improving molded part qualities without significant increases in cycle time. In this study, a gas-assisted heating system combined with water cooling and different mold designs to achieve dynamic mold surface temperature control was established. The feasibility of using gas-assisted heating for mold surface temperature control during the injection molding process was then evaluated from experimental results. The effect of mold design as well as heating conditions including hot gas temperature, gas flow capacity, and heating time on the heating efficiency and the distribution uniformity of mold surface temperature were also studied. Results showed that as hot gas temperature and gas flow capacity increased, as well as increasing heating times from 2 s to 4 s, mold surface temperature increased significantly. Fan shaped gas channel design exhibits better mold surface temperature distribution uniformity than tube shaped gas channel design. During gas-assisted heating/cooling, it takes 2 s to increase mold surface temperature from 60 °C to 120 °C and 34 s for mold surface to return to 60 °C. In addition, under specified heating conditions and using the best composite mold designs, the heating rate can reach up to 30 °C/s, a rate well-suited to industrial applications.