Three Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Melt Filling Process in Mold Cavity with Insets

This paper presents a level set function, named shape function, to describe and treat the irregular surface of mold cavity. With the aid of the shape function, the continuity, momentum and energy equations can be extended for solving two-phase flows with an immersed solid surface. The governing equations are solved by using the finite volume solver with the coupled level set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) method to track the polymer melt front. As case studies, the melt filling processes are simulated in mold cavities with cylindrical insets. The numerical results show that the mathematical model can successfully depict the phenomenon of race-tracking and fountain, which are very helpful for determining processing conditions and designing mold cavities.