Application of lattice Boltzmann method in free surface flow simulation of micro injection molding

The filling flow in micro injection molding was simulated by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). A tracking algorithm for free surface to handle the complex interaction between gas and liquid phases in LBM was used for the free surface advancement. The temperature field in the filling flow is also analyzed by combining the thermal lattice Boltzmann model and the free surface method. To simulate the fluid flow of polymer melt with a high Prandtl number and high viscosity, a modified lattice Boltzmann scheme was adopted by introducing a free parameter in the thermal diffusion equation to overcome the restriction of the thermal relaxation time. The filling flow simulation of micro injection molding was successfully performed in the study.