After the cooling line diameter has been determined, the depth of the cooling lines

must be selected. From a structural point of view, it is desirable to place the

cooling
lines far from the surface of the mold cavity. Deep placement avoids the stress
concentrations
associated with the removal of material close to the surface. For reference,
Fig. 9.4 plots the stress contours for mold designs with cooling line depths,
Hline , equal to one cooling line diameter at left and four cooling line diameters
at
right. It is observed that there are stress concentrations around the cooling line,
and the magnitude of the stress, s, increases significantly as the cooling line
approaches
the mold wall.
258 9 Cooling System Design
Hline = 4 D
# = 2.6 # Pmelt
Hline = 1 D
# = 3.3 # Pmelt
Figure 9.4 Stress distributions around cooling line
Stress concentration factors have been well analyzed for a variety of materials,
geometries,
and load conditions [10]. For a uniformly loaded plate with a hole, the
minimum stress concentration factor is typically between 2 and 3 [11]. Even when
the cooling lines are placed at a distance of four diameters, a stress
concentration
factor of 2.6 is observed. If a mold insert is made of P20, which has an endurance
stress (to avoid fatigue) of 456 MPa. Then the mold can only be designed for a
maximum
melt pressure of:
max endurance
melt 175MPa
2.6
P s
= = (9.19)
Fortunately, this melt pressure is about equal to the maximum injection pressure
for most molding machines, and is unlikely to be fully transmitted to the mold
cavity.
The stress concentration associated with cooling lines is very significant, and
this
constraint requires the cooling line to be placed far away from the mold surface in
molding applications with high melt pressures. Even when the cooling lines are
placed far from the cavity surface, the stress concentrations still potentially
limit
the melt pressures with which the mold may be operated. As another example,
consider the design of an aluminum mold with a fatigue limit stress equal to
166 MPa. If the cooling line depth is equal to one diameter then the stress
concentration
factor is 3.3, which would allow a maximum melt pressure of just 50 MPa.
This analysis does not prevent the molder from operating at higher melt pressures,
but simply indicates that the mold will likely not operate for a long life without
developing cracks emanating from the cooling lines. Stress concentrations in
molds are discussed in more detail in Section 12.2.6.
9.2 The Cooling System Design Process 259
While the structural considerations suggest that cooling lines should be placed far
from the mold surface, the rate of heat transfer is maximized by placing the
cooling
lines as close to the surface as possible. The heat conduction equation states
that the thermal resistance is linear with the distance between the cooling line
and
the mold surface. The effective heat conduction coefficient is:
mold
conduction
line
k
h
H
= (9.20)
As previously discussed with the heat transfer analysis of Eq. 9.7, a typical
convective
heat transfer rate in molding is 1000 W/�C. To ensure that the cooling line
depth does not add unnecessarily to the cooling time, the maximum cooling line
depth may be estimated as:
mold
line 1000W �C
k
H < (9.21)
A commonly used steel, P20, has a thermal conductivity of 32 W/m�C, which suggests
a maximum cooling line depth of 32 mm for effective cooling. Combining the
structural and heat transfer requirements for a typical 6.35 mm diameter cooling
line, the recommended range for the cooling line depth is:
line 2D< H <5D (9.22)
which is a commonly used range in mold design. While a mold designer may
choose an arbitrary cooling line depth from this range, the provided analysis
should be used for special applications with diverse structural or heat transfer
requirements.
Example:
Specify the cooling line depth and maximum melt pressure for the cup/lid
mold if P20 is to be used as the mold material.
The cooling line diameter is 6.35 mm. Let us assume that the depth will be
set to four cooling line diameters, so the cooling line depth is set to 25.4 mm.
This depth still imposes a stress concentration of 2.6. If the endurance limit
for P20 is 456 MPa, then the maximum melt pressure for infinite life is:
max
melt
456MPa
175MPa
2.6
P = =
which is close to the maximum injection pressures available from most molding
machines.
?
260 9 Cooling System Design
9.2.6 Select Cooling Line Pitch
Once the cooling line depth is selected, the distance between the cooling lines
(known as the �pitch�) is assigned. A tighter pitch, Wline , between cooling lines
provides for faster and more uniform cooling. However, a tighter pitch also means
more cooling lines and the likelihood of conflicts arising between the cooling
lines
and other mold components. The mold designer should select a cooling line pitch
that is appropriate for the specific molding application using analysis.
The temperature prediction of the melt during cooling involves the solution of a
system of parabolic differential equations. While this is readily solved using the
finite element method as above, no suitable analytical treatment has yet been
developed.
Menges [12] provides an estimate of the percentage variation in the heat
flux, DQ? , across the mold between cooling lines:
line
line
2.8ln
line
line
%
W
W H
Q
H
�� ���� ����
�� �� �� � D �� ���� ���� ��
? (9.23)
This function is plotted in Fig. 9.5 for steel and an aluminum mold materials. The
analysis indicates that the variation in the heat flux is less than 5 % up to a
cooling
line pitch equal to twice the cooling line depth. Afterwards, the variation in heat
flux increases dramatically and is indicative of slower rates of mold cooling and
high temperature gradients within the molded part.
Figure 9.5 Effect of pitch on variation in heat flux
9.2 The Cooling System Design Process 261
To avoid a significant temperature gradient between cooling lines, it is
recommended
that mold designers use a cooling line pitch in the range of:
line line line H <W <2H (9.24)
depending on the requirements of the application. A commodity product with
loose tolerances would likely be fine with a cooling line pitch equal to two or
three
times the cooling line depth. For tighter tolerance applications or for
applications
requiring faster cycle times or more uniform cooling, a closer spacing equal to the
cooling line depth is desirable.
Figure 9.5 indicates that the use of highly conductive materials (such as aluminum
or copper) actually increases the variation in heat flux by improving the heat
conduction
between the cooling line and the cavity surface. As such, the use of highly
conductive materials does not directly allow for a wider pitch and a reduced number
of cooling lines. If fewer cooling lines are desired, then this may best be
accomplished
by selecting a large cooling line depth and still setting the pitch to twice
this amount. Highly conductive mold materials can then be utilized to accomplish
high rates of heat transfer with uniform cooling.
Wline = Hline Wline = 4 Hline
Figure 9.6 Heat flow from cavity centerline to cooling line
Example:
Transient