True 3D injection molding CAE tool for practical applications

2.5D mold filling simulation is widely used and accepted in the injection molding to reduce hardware prototyping and to improve the parts design and molding process. Recently, true 3D mold filling simulation is becoming popular for its capability to providing better forecasting accuracy. Furthermore, the advancements both in the hardware and theoretical modeling make 3D simulation an affordable reality. However, a smooth integrated analysis workflow based on the model meshed with volume mesh is still seldom reported in the literature. In this paper, a true 3D simulation technique are proposed to simulate the filling, packing and cooling stages in injection molding, as well as the part warpage after ejection. All the simulations can be carried out on the same solid model, in which both cavity and mold base are meshed with volume elements of different topologies. Numerical experiments indicated the proposed tool is reliable and efficient for the true 3D simulation of injection molding.