MOULD COOLING

MOULDS NEED COOLING FOR :-

1. Constant Mould Temperature for uniform

Quality

2 Reduced Cycle time for Productivity

3 Improved Surface Finish without Defects

4 Avoiding War- page by uniform mould

surface temperature
5 Long mold Life
 Mould cooling
GENERAL
One fundamental principle of injection moulding
is that hot material enters the mould, where it
cools rapidly to a temperature at which it
solidifies sufficiently to retain the shape of the
impression. The temperature of the mould is
therefore important as it governs a portion of
the overall moulding cycle. While the melt flows
more freely in a hot mould, a greater cooling
period is required before the solidified moulding
can be ejected.
 Injection moulding process is cyclic in
characteristic. Cooling time is about 50 to
75% of the total cycle time. Therefore,
optimising cooling time for best
performance is very important from quality
and productivity point of view.
 Alternatively, while the melt solidifies
quickly in a cold mould it may not reach
the extremities of the impression. A
compromise between the two extremes
must therefore be accepted to obtain the
optimum moulding cycle.
 Heat Exchange in mould
During every injection moulding cycle
following heat transfers take place:

from the hot melt to mould steel (heat

input to the mould) and
from mould steel to coolant flowing
through cooling channel of the mould.
(heat removal from the mould)
 If heat input is more than heat removal, then the
mould temperature would keep on increasing
from cycle to cycle. Therefore moulding quality
would not be constant from cycle to cycle. The
moulding quality would be erratic- i.e. varying
from cycle to cycle. Therefore, there is a need to
balance between the heat input and heat
removal in the mould after the desired mould
surface temperature is reached.
 In other words, removal of heat by
circulating coolant through the mould
cooling channel would arrest the rise of
mould temperature above the desired
value. In practice, it may not be possible
maintain constant mould temperature with
respect to time. However, the mould
temperature would fluctuate between two
values around the desired value.
 MOULD COOLING
COOLING DEPENDS ON :---

1 Cooling Medium used

2 Conductivity of mould steel
3 Room temperature of moulding shop
4 Diameter of cooling circuit hole
5 Length of cooling circuit
6 Position of cooling hole from mould
surface
7 Flow rate of cooling medium
 The operating temperature for a particular mould will
depend on a number of factors which include the
following:
type and grade of material to be moulded;
length of flow within the impression;
wall section of the moulding;
length of the feed system, etc.
It is often found advantageous to use a slightly higher
temperature than is required just to fill the impression, as
this tends to improve the surface finish of the moulding
by minimising weld lines, flow marks and other
blemishes.
 To maintain the required temperature
differential between the mould and plastic
material, water (or other fluid) is circulated
through holes or channels within the
mould.
These holes or channels are termed flow-
ways or water-ways and the complete
system of flow ways is termed the circuit.
 During the impression filling stage the
hottest material will be in the vicinity of the
entry point, i.e. the gate, the coolest
material will be at the point farthest from
the entry.
The temperature of the coolant fluid,
however, increases as it passes through
the mould.
 Therefore to achieve an even cooling rate
over the moulding surface it is necessary
to locate the incoming coolant fluid
adjacent to hot moulding surfaces and to
locate the channels containing heated
coolant fluid adjacent to 'cool' moulding
surfaces.
 POSITIONING THE FLOW WAYS

When using drillings for the circulation of

the coolant, drilling for the coolant
passage must not be positioned too close
to the impression (say closer than 16 mm
as this is likely to cause a marked
temperature variation across the
impression, with resultant moulding
problems.
 COOLING CIRCUIT LAYOUT
To obtain the best possible position for a
circuit it is good practice to lay the
circuit in at the earliest
opportunity in the design.
The other mould items such as ejector
pins, guide bushes, etc., can then be
positioned accordingly.
 The temperature of a mould plate of the integer
type is controlled by circulating water through
holes bored in the plate. The holes are normally
interconnected to form a circuit. The circuit may
be at one or more levels, the number of which
will depend on the depth of the mould plate.
As the circuits for integer cavity plates and
integer core plates arc generally dissimilar, they
will be treated separately.
Cooling integer-type cavity plate
Let us begin by considering the simplest
case, that of a mould plate which
incorporates a small, shallow cavity. The
simplest approach to a circuit which we
can adopt is to drill two flow ways, one on
either side of the cavity, and to connect
these at one end by means of a flexible
hose, adaptors being fitted into the ends of
the flow way The above circuit is
illustrated.
 COOLING METHODS
1. COOLING INTEGER TYPE CAVITY PLATE
A. SIMPLEST CIRCUIT
B. 'U' CIRCUIT
C. 'U' CIRCUIT UTILIZING THE MILLED CHANNEL(2)
D. RECTANGULAR CIRCUIT
E. 'Z' CIRCUIT
F. BALANCED 'Z' CIRCUIT
G. CORRRECTLY FITTING THE BAFFLES
H. INTEGER CAVITY PLATE COOLING- MULTI LEVEL SYSTEM, SEPERATE CIRCUITS,
PARTIAALLY INTER CONNECTED
I COOLING PLATE FIXED ON TO CAVITY PLATE.
J. INTEGER CORE COOLING - ANGLED HOLE SYSTEM
K. INTEGER CORE COOLING BAFFLED STRAIGHT HOLE SYSTEM
L. CORE COOLING BOLSTER
M. COOLING ANNULUS METHOD
N. INTERCONNECTING GROOVE DESIGN
O. COOLANT SLEEVE METHOD
P. RECTANGULAR MILLED GROOVE DESIGN
Q. DEEP CHAMBER COOLING
R. HELICAL CHANNEL INSERT PLUG SYSTEM
S. COPPER PIPE SYSTEM
T. INTERCONNECTED COOLING ANNULUS
 METHODS OF COOLING

PLATE COOLING SIMPLE CIRCUIT

(a) Integer cavity plate cooling by drilling hole parallely and

connected them with external flexible hose as shown in
figure.
 METHODS OF COOLING
PLATE COOLING

(b) Integer cavity plate cooling by drill holes as shown in

figure.
The drilling openings, where not required can plugged
with soft materials, usually copper.
 METHODS OF COOLING

INSERT COOLING

(b) Cavity pate cooling by drilling holes. COPPER PLUG

 METHODS OF COOLING

PLATE COOLING

(c) This is another method where we are not drilling the

cavity plate itself, but we are screwing the plates
externally, in which water ways were milled .
 METHODS OF COOLING

PLATE COOLING

(d) Integer core plate angularly drilled cooling system by

connecting the drilled holes angularly.
 METHODS OF COOLING
PLATE COOLING
(e) Bubbler straight hole system, for plate cooling.

The water comes through the pipes inserted in the bored

hole of core and returns through outside to outlet.
 METHODS OF COOLING

PLATE COOLING
(f) Stepped circuit system shown in figure has a limitation.
The plug will come a part of the impression and it should
be plugged carefully and should be polished.
 METHODS OF COOLING

INSERT COOLING

(a) Cavity insert cooling by the simplest way.

The copper pipe is pass through the bottom of the insert.
 METHODS OF COOLING

INSERT COOLING

(d) Coolant annular method.

Another simplest way making water ways by boring around
the insert and connect by drilling holes in the plates.
O RING CAVITY INSERT

CAVITY PLATE
 METHODS OF COOLING

INSERT COOLING

(e) Cooling shallow core insert by circular milled grooves.

 METHODS OF COOLING

(f) Bigger core insert can be cooled by this helical channel

insert, and one of the most efficient method.
 METHODS OF COOLING

(g)Baffled hole system for small core inserts.

In this one hole is separated by a baffle and water rise
upwards through one side and comes down through other
side.
If more inserts are there we can connect them in series.
 METHODS OF COOLING

(h) The bubbler system for small core inserts, Here one pipe
is inserted inside the bored hole.
If there is more inserts we can connect them either in
series or in parallel.
Parallel connection is the best and effective design and
it is shown in the figure.
 METHODS OF COOLING

(i) Small core insert can be cooled by inserting small

conducting inserts of Copper, Aluminium etc. in contact
with the flowing coolant.
 METHODS OF COOLING

(j) Very small core insert can be cooled by passing the

compressed air when mould is open.
METHODS OF COOLING
METHODS OF COOLING

COOLING LAY OUT IN SERIAL

METHODS OF COOLING

PARALLEL LAY OUT OF COOLING

 METHODS OF COOLING

COOLING LINE IN SPIRAL DESIGN

 METHODS OF COOLING

STRAIGHT COOLING CHANNEL. POOR DESIGN FOR CIRCULAR COMPONENTS.

 METHODS OF COOLING

STRAIGHT COOLING CHANNELS FOR RECTANGULAR

PARTS GATED ( a ROD b DIVERTING PLUG.)
 METHODS OF COOLING

COOLING LINE LAY OUT IN SPIRAL FORM FOR RECTANGULAR PARTS.

 METHODS OF COOLING
COPPER PLUG

COPPER PLUG

RECTANGULAR PART WITH CENTER GATING.

 METHODS OF COOLING

PARALLEL LAYOUT OF CORE COOLING FOR BOX MOULD

 METHODS OF COOLING

COPPER PLUG

SERIAL COOLING CIRCUIT FOR CORE OF A BOX MOULD.

 The mould designer should take
care of following points:
Thermal conductivity of mould steel influences
the rate of heat transfer though mould steel to
cooling channel.
Cooling channel diameter should be more for
thicker wall thickness:
For wall thickness upto 2mm, channel diameter
should be 8 - 10 mm.,
For wall thickness upto 4 mm, channel diameter
should be 10 - 12 mm.,
For wall thickness upto 6 mm, channel diameter
should be 10 - 16 mm.
 The mould designer should take
care of following points:
Cooling channels should be as close as
possible to the mould cavity / core
surfaces.
The center distance between adjacent
channel can be 1.7 to 2 times diameter of
the channel. This is also governed by the
strength of mould steel.
 The mould designer should take
care of following points:
There should be no dead ends in the
cooling channels. It could provide
opportunity for air trap.
Use efficient sealing methods and
materials to eliminate cooling leaks.
 Cooling Channel layout depends
on :
part geometry,
number of cavities,
ejector and cam systems,
part quality,
dimensional precision,
part surface appearance,
polymer etc.
 DIFFERENCE IN INLET AND
OUTLET TEMPERATURES

The difference between the inlet and outlet

water temperature should be less than 2 to
5 degrees C.
 COOLANTS
WATER
Pure Ethylene glycol can be used as
Primary fluid transfer medium in closed
loop cooling system. Ethylene glycol does
not produce rust and mineral deposits in
cooling channels. Mixture of water and
Ethylene glycol can also be used for
circulation through the cooling channel.