ASSIGNMENT 1

FLOWING MELT THROUGH

RUNNERS ( BALANCED AND
UNBALANCED)
___

Name-Sandipan Roy

Roll No-2k16/PS/40

INTRODUCTION

A runner is a channel that guides molten plastic into the cavity of a mold.

● Utilization of family molds or multi-cavity polymer injection molds has proven itself to be
economical to the manufacturing industry as it helps lower cycle time per individual part
and ultimately drive profit increases.
● With the demand for higher output per cycle and utilization of multi-cavity molds, runner
systems have evolved to better fill individual cavities. Studies have shown however, that an
imbalance in fill characteristics between cavities exists based on their location with respect
to the sprue.
● In order to meet this demand,the design of runner systems has evolved. To date no perfect
and standardized model runner system has been developed which evenly fills each
individual cavity. The most recent and highly applied runner design, a geometrically
balanced runner system, is also subject to these conditions with fill imbalance of up to 90%
weight variation between part cavities being recorded in certain cases.

(a) In a balanced runner system the melt flow is evenly distributed to the cavities and
ensures that the parts are filled evenly, at the same time and at the same pressure.
(b) In an unbalanced runner system, the cavity closest to the sprue is filled first and
that furthest from the sprue is filled last.In consequence the pressure in the cavity
closest to the sprue may build up very high while the others are still filling.

Balancing an unbalanced system

● In order to balance filling these cavities , it is necessary to put the greatest

restrictions (can be done reducing diameter at the farther ends) on the melt flow to
the cavity nearest to the sprue and gradually reduce the restriction as the distance
between the sprue and cavity increases.

Varying the injection speed

● Slow injection rate will first fill parts farther out onto the runner, while a
faster injection rate will first fill the parts closest to the sprue. This is
because at a slower injection rate, the melt tends to hesitate at the restricted
gate it first encounters. It moves out to fill the remaining runner system. By
the time all the runner branches are filled, the melt at the first, upstream
gates may have already become more resistant than the downstream gates,
due to solidification. Varied injection speed will result in filling patterns
between these two extremes, as illustrated in the figure below
 Background of fill imbalance

In a competitive market it is only natural that a manufacturer improves its process

efficiency in order to cut costs and maintain its share of the market. By increasing the
number of parts produced per single injection molding cycle, a company could significantly
lower costs through reduction of overall per product cycle time. Yet with this increase in
economic competitiveness, a manufacturing problem arises as cavities do not evenly fill.
The problem disrupts homogeneity, jeopardizes quality. and undercuts profits. With the
earlier runner designs. fill imbalance problems were clearly evident and resulted in
additional costs for continual modifications to the mold. Since the earliest design. the
runner design has evolved yet quizzically the fill imbalance problem persisted. Now with
quality and tolerances becoming ever more restrictive, both the academic and the industry
commitments have focused on the runner system in hopes to finally understand the root
cause of the problem.

Given the short history of multi-cavity molds. there are only a few runner designs
including the geometrically balanced system that have been regularly applied by the
industry
 "FishBone" and "Tree" Runner Configuration

Economic justification naturally evolved the industry of injection molding to develop molds
with multi-cavities in order to increase productivity. These early multi cavities had runner
systems in configuration of the "fishbone" or "tree" style where cavities farther away from
the mold had longer runner lengths than those towards the center, as illustrated in Figure
below

As was the case. parts closest to the sprue typically filled first and were heavier and larger
than those parts farther away from the injection location. The cause of the fill imbalance
was diagnosed as uneven length and pressure drop to each cavity. Polymer melt,like any
other fluid, moves in the path of least resistance thereby cavities with lower pressure drops
fill faster than those of higher pressure drops. The following is a commonly applied
equation to calculate pressure drop through a die,
where P is pressure. Q is volumetric /flow rate. l is length. r is radius, w is runner width.
h is runner height, and η is viscosity. Calculations show that if the diameter of the runner
system was consistent throughout, the pressure drop to the inner cavities would be far less
than those on the outside.

Geometrically Balanced Runner Configuration

In the 1980's the geometrically balanced runner system was developed as an improved
model as it guaranteed equal flow lengths to every single cavity. Until this day it is widely
considered to be superior over the "fishbone" and "tree" configuration. Interestingly it was
discovered while short shooting the mold that fill imbalance was still occurring in molds
with more than 4 cavities. The observed fill characteristic was that the inner cavities,
closest to the sprue hole. were filling faster in comparison to the outer cavities.

The figure below illustrates the design of an 8-cavity geometrically balanced "1-1-
configuration" runner mold.

In the 8 cavity configuration shown abme. which is the basic design for this experimental
study: there are two distinct flow groups. Part cavities 1-4 are categorized as the "inner"
cavities since they arc physically closer to the sprue, while part cavitics -5-8 are classified
as the "outer" cavities. By short shooting the mold, it has been recorded that the inner
cavities fill faster compared to the outer cavities. Many part defects can be attributed to
this flow imbalance. Cavities that fill first are typically heavier than the remaining parts
due to uneven packing pressure and duration, potentially sticking in the mold and causing
damage. Uneven cavity filling leads to an imbalance in the packing stage where cavities
experience different pressure values as well as packing duration. Other abnormalities such
as flash,sink and short shots can arise from uneven cavity filling.
 Various diagnosis for fill imbalance

Sharp Square Corners Cause Localized High Shearing

The conventional design of the intersection. where the primary runner branches into the
secondary runner, is a straightforward "T" intersection with square comers as illustrated
in Figure above. When the fast melt front splits at the junction, a localized high shear
occurs at each corner, causing the melt to continue to tum in the same direction. As the
initial flow front makes a left, it will continue to make another left when reaching the 2nd
junction, causing the inner cavities to fill first. Once back pressure builds within the inner
cavities, the melt begins to flow into the outer cavities. In order to reduce the high
concentration of shearing at comers of the intersection, it was proposed that the tum to
enter the secondary and tertiary runner be a gradual turn following a path of an arc. The
proposed runner design is illustrated in Figure

Mold temperature gradient

While the hot polymer melt flows through the runner system and enters the part cavity. it
is continually losing heat to the cold metal mold. The material in contact with the mold
loses heat at rates proportional to the temperature difference between the melt and the
mold. With the hot injection nozzle continually in contact with mold at the sprue location,
as well as the continual injection of new hot material through the sprue. It is expected then
that the mold's temperature gradient will have the highest value at the sprue and decrease
with radial distance that causes fill imbalances.
 Component Theories to Shear Induced Fill Imbalance

There are several main principles that serve as foundations for the theory of shear induced
fill imbalance. It is important to discuss the boundary condition of no-slip at a wall, which
establishes the velocity profile across the polymer melt flow. Following this, a relationship
between a polymer's viscosity and the shear rate will be established to help readers grasp
the concept of shear thinning.

No Slip Condition at the Wall and Resultant Velocity Profile

A polymer melt is a viscous fluid with capabilities to flow and change shape due to its
inability to support shear stresses. Using the typical assumption of a no-slip condition at
the walls. when a viscous fluid flows over a solid surface there is no relative motion
between the fluid and the surface. As a result. strong velocity gradients develop in the
region near the surface. This region, called the boundary layer, has velocity gradients
large enough to produce significant viscous stress and shear rates. The region outside of
the boundary layer is called the freestream where there are neither significant velocity
gradients nor any significant viscous stresses. The resultant flow profile is classified as a
Poiseuille flow. illustrated in the Figures below. it shows the velocity is fastest at thc
center and decays to zero in a parabolic manner.
 Viscosity Relative to Temperature

WLF equation (shows impact of temperature on viscosity)

Viscosity Relative to Applied Shear Rates

Application of high rates of deformation causes individual molecules to better orient

themselves so they can slide past each other with more ease, hence lowering the bulk
viscosity as illustrated in Figure above. The bulk viscosity is really a factor of the material
and composition of the polymer. With increase in molecular weight, number of branching
chains, as well as the size and quantity of the attached side groups, the bulk viscosity is
known to increase.
 Theory of Shear Induced Fill Imbalance

Now that well established principles of no-slip condition. viscosity characteristics with
respect to both temperature and shear rates. and viscous heating effects have been
explained. This section can proceed to explaining the theory of shear induced fill
imbalance. The theory of shear induced fill imbalance.

With the fully developed laminar velocity profile of a melt traveling through a circular
runner being of parabolic shape, the resultant shear ratc profile with respect to radial
coordinates as shown below

As a function of shear rate, the viscosity within the boundary layer will then be
significantly lower than that of the core. An additional reduction of viscosity will also
occur if the viscous heating overcomes the heat loss effects to the cool mold wall, which
would cause temperatures to rise at the boundary. The resultant combination of both the
shear rate and temperature gradient across the melt flow causes the viscosity to change
relative to the radial distance from the core. In this case, the viscosity would be
significantly higher in the core region than within the outer boundary layer.

During the development of the theory it was observed that fill imbalance occurs in
naturally balanced molds when the quantity of cavities exceeds 4. For molds with only I.
2. or 4 cavities. illustrate below , fill imbalance does not occur
 From this observation that fill imbalance is related to the number of cavities. and more
importantly to the number of branches in the runner system.As thc mclt travels down thc
primary runner. the mclt’s viscosity will maintain a symmetrical profile,and when it
reaches the first junction the temperature, viscosity, and temperature distribution will
become non-symmetrical from side to side as shown below.

The change in direction causes the highly sheared and hotter polymer that was originally
at the boundary along the perimeter to now flow along the left wall of the secondary
runner illustrated in figure above, while the cool and thicker core ends up following along
the wall on the right side.

The figure above illustrates the imbalance of viscosity and temperature profile as the melt
splits into the secondary runner.