Computer-aided engineering analysis for early-ejected plastic part dimension prediction and quality assurance

Early ejection of injection-molded plastic parts aims to shorten the production cycle. However, the early ejection process may induce unfavorable deformations. No commercial simulation tool is available to predict the transitional mechanical properties of the plastic part and the possible deformations induced by early ejection. The authors propose a method to simulate the early ejection process and the plastic part’s mechanical response by integrating Moldflow™ and Ansys™. A real industrial case study is provided to show the procedure and its validation. Compared to the stand-alone molding simulation, the proposed method can predict the part’s final dimensions more accurately. By considering the ejection-induced deformations at the mold design stage, the mold can be better designed to facilitate early ejection, while the part is only partial solidified.