11/1/2008 | 21 MINUTE READ

Unbalanced? No Shortage of Ways to Fix

Uneven Filling of Multi-Cavity Molds
The accepted ground rule for balancing melt flow in multi-cavity injection
molds is to achieve equal flow distance from the injection point to each
cavity.

MIKELL KNIGHTS

Related Suppliers

ALBA Enterprises

Beaumont Technologies, Inc. | AIM Institute

DME - Milacron

Ewikon Molding Technologies, Inc.

Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd.

INCOE Corporation

Kistler Instrument Corp.

Melt Design, Inc.

Mold-Masters / Milacron

Osco, Inc.
 Priamus System Technologies, LLC

RJG, Inc.

Synventive Molding Solutions

Technoject Machinery Corp./Heitec

The accepted ground rule for balancing melt flow in multi-cavity

injection molds is to achieve equal flow distance from the
injection point to each cavity. The sober truth is that even such
“naturally balanced” molds can be prone to non-uniform fills,
resulting in good parts from some cavities and short shots, flash,
or overpacking in others. This is hardly a new problem for
injection molders. But there are some signs that it could become
more important as simpler molds and molding jobs go overseas
and domestic molders take on proportionally more of the
complex, multi-cavity applications.

Not all sources interviewed for this article agree on the scope of
the problem. “We don’t see a lot of filling imbalances, largely
because we avoid varying gate sizes,” say spokesmen for D-M-E
Co., a hot-runner supplier. D-M-E starts with a geometrically
balanced mold and frequently adds a Moldflow analysis to
forestall potential problems. But, as D-M-E sources admit, “There
may be only so much you can do, even after the Moldflow
analysis. Suppose you move a gate to change the weld-line
location—that may raise the chances for a shear imbalance to
arise. You may have to change gate sizes to compensate.”
However, D-M-E advises against such modifications except as a
last resort, because they tend to shrink the process window for
the mold.
The majority of sources interviewed agree that unbalanced filling
of multi-cavity tools has indeed become a more prominent topic
of discussion in recent years. This is due in part to the marketing
of a new analysis of the problem and a new tool for combating it.
That analysis says uneven filling of supposedly balanced molds is
to a large extent inevitable, owing to the basic physics of polymer
melt flow. Based on that analysis, the patented “MeltFlipper” of
Beaumont Technologies, Inc. (BTI) is a type of mold insert
designed to counteract unbalanced temperature, shear, and flow
conditions that are actually created by the mold’s runner system.

While a number of industry experts credit BTI with raising

awareness of flow imbalances, its solution is hardly the only one
available. In fact, there are several. Some are relatively new, but
most of have been offered—but perhaps overlooked—for quite
some time. These technologies fall into two general categories,
“fixed” and “variable.” In the first category are devices placed
within the flow path to mix or otherwise manipulate the melt
stream. Others are newer designs of hot-runner nozzles and
manifolds that are said to minimize shear-induced flow
differences.

Other solutions allow adjustment of volume, pressure,

temperature, and shear at individual cavities. Some use valve-
gate devices to open and close melt channels or provide a
variable restriction by partially opening or closing the channel.
Another solution is a variable-position mold insert to erase shear
variations between cavities. Also available are in-mold
 temperature and/or pressure sensors to “see” what is occurring in
each cavity and feed back a signal to valve gates, nozzle heaters,
or the injection ram.

Choosing among these systems depends on molder preferences

and technical capabilities: Do you want to put the responsibility
in the hands of the moldmaker and hot-runner component
supplier? Or do you want the ability to fine-tune the system at
each cavity? Perhaps you want to monitor conditions in each
cavity as well, and generate electronic records of each shot.

All these different technologies have achieved some level of

commercial success, but they also call for different levels of
commitment from the molder in terms of capital investment, ease
of use, training and maintenance. They also may differ in process
sensitivity and responsiveness.

GET CONTROL OF SHEAR

The basic theory of balanced mold filling is to ensure that the

melt enters each cavity under the same pressure and
temperature conditions. Balanced filling is typically taken to
mean that volume in each cavity varies no more than 10% to 20%
at 90% fill, according to Bruce Catoen, v.p. of marketing and
business development for Mold-Masters.

But no matter what you do to ensure consistent flow lengths,

flow-channel diameters, and temperatures throughout the mold,
there are fundamental physics principles at work inside the mold
that undo all the efforts made at balancing flow to multiple
cavities. That’s the philosophy of Dr. John Beaumont, founder of
Beaumont Technologies, Inc. (BTI) and inventor of the
MeltFlipper. As explained in detail in previous articles (see Learn
More box), melt flowing through a runner system develops layers
of hotter, more fluid melt near the mold wall and cooler, more
viscous melt near the center of the flow channel. This is a result
of the melt on periphery of the flow channel experiencing more
shear heating from friction with the mold wall. “Due to shear,
laminates of melt along the perimeter close to the runner wall
can be up to 200° F hotter than the melt in the center of the melt
stream,” says Beaumont, “and the viscosity can differ as much as
1000-fold as a result of thermal and shear-thinning effects.”

This laminar structure is split within the runner system and even
within the part cavity, with the ultimate result that hotter melt
ends up flowing one way and cooler melt the other way, so the
melt entering the cavities (or different parts of the cavity) is no
longer of the same temperature and viscosity.

These effects can be felt even in single- and two-cavity molds,

where melt of different rheology ends up in different regions of
each cavity. “That’s why the industry is now looking beyond
balance by controlling rheology within the cavity,” notes
Beaumont. “Variations in rheology across a cavity can create
problem with cosmetics, core shift, warpage, and weld-line
strength.”

Beaumont’s MeltFlipper and MAX technologies are mold-design

features or inserts placed strategically within the runner system.
They rotate the melt’s laminar orientation by a specific amount so
that a consistent “slice” of all the hotter and cooler laminates is
distributed to each sub-runner. “The melt rotation not only
equalizes the distribution of laminates to all cavities, but can
strategically position them within each cavity” says David
Hoffman, BTI technical director of sales and marketing. This
achieves two subsidiary advantages, he explains: “The overall
injection pressure is typically governed by the worst-filling cavity,
which usually contains the coolest, highest-viscosity melt. Thus,
evenly dividing the hotter and cooler laminates among all
cavities lowers the overall pressure to fill the mold. Additionally,
cycle times are commonly reduced by more than 10% since
severe thermal variations and related product dimensional
variations are eliminated.”

BTI cites several thousand success stories worldwide with the

MeltFlipper. One is Phillips Plastics, a prominent custom molder
based in Phillips, Wis. Specializing in precision molding, Phillips
used to limit itself to no more than four cavities per tool in order
to maintain quality control. But now the firm is regularly running
higher cavitation, including 16-cavity tools, successfully with the
MeltFlipper, which is making Phillips more competitive in piece
price. BTI says another customer is running a 128-cavity tool with
the MeltFlipper.

BTI is now taking the technology into thermoset molding, where

it reportedly can cut cycle times up to 50% through uniformly
distributing the shear laminates and placing them strategically
within the part so that the material cures both from the outside
in and inside out.
 While the MeltFlipper is a fixed device, BTI sees the need for an
adjustable melt rotation because resins can vary lot to lot,
moisture levels can change, molds can wear unevenly, and some
molds run multiple products and in multiple machines. The
newest versions are the iMARC inserts, which can change the
angle of melt rotation by means of a simple adjustment while the
mold is in the press. “This new technology allows the molder to
tune the rheological balance to within a few percent without
causing any flow restrictions, increased pressure loss, or material
hang-ups,” claims Beaumont.

Incoe Corp. supplies MeltFlipper technology in its Opti-Flo hot-

runner systems under exclusive global license from BTI. John
Blundy, Incoe’s v.p. of business development, says hundreds of
Opti-Flo systems have been delivered. They cost about 10% more
than a conventional hot-runner system, including BTI’s license
fee to use the MeltFlipper technology. However, BTI says this is
much less expensive than other melt-balancing technologies,
such as the use of in-mold sensors.

SENSOR-BASED TECHNOLOGIES

While BTI takes the approach of attacking the root cause of flow
imbalances, most other suppliers accept the fact that small
variations in cutting mold steel and changing conditions in the
molding shop will always present the possibility of non-uniform
filling. These other suppliers offer instead various means of
overcoming flow variations, whatever the cause. They focus on
the end result—filling all cavities at the same time and pressure—
and choose some “handle” on the process to be tweaked to
achieve that result.

Cavity pressure sensing and control is one fairly common

approach to this goal. “A difference of just a few bars of pressure
can have a dramatic impact on part quality from cavity to cavity,”
says Mold-Masters’ Catoen.

In an article on diagnosing and fixing flow imbalances in this

magazine last December (see Learn More), Mike Groleau, co-
owner of RJG Inc., noted that continuously changing imbalances
in some hot-runner molds can create frustrating problems that
come and go from cycle to cycle, making them very difficult to
solve. “The sensor gives molders rich information about the cause
of problems, allowing them to solve these problems quicker and
easier,” Groleau says. Cavity pressure sensors also confirm part
quality automatically, even before the mold opens.

Groleau says molders often don’t associate their inconsistent

parts with unbalanced flow in the mold. A way to assess mold
imbalance is to deliberately turn off hold pressure to create a
short shot. Make sure all parts are at least a little short. Then you
can weigh the parts to measure the degree of imbalance.

Once you determine that imbalance exists, Groleau says, cavity

pressure sensing may help provide a solution. In some cases, he
says, the process can be adjusted to compensate for the
imbalance and made more “forgiving” or “robust.” In just a few
trial shots, cavity pressure sensing can determine when the first-
to-fill cavity is not quite full. Then a low-velocity injection stage
can be programmed to occur at that ram position, in order to
finish filling all parts with more consistent pressures.

RJG’s eDART cavity-pressure monitoring and control system is

designed for multi-cavity applications. Digital sensor technology
allows multiple sensors to be connected to the monitor with one
cable, allowing easier use on the shop floor.

Another advocate of cavity pressure sensing is Kistler Instrument

Corp., whose Swiss parent company reportedly was the first to
market this concept in 1975. “The measurement of melt pressure
has become increasingly important,” says Oliver Schnerr, head of
product management for plastics. “Yesterday’s technology
required a separate cable connection to the mold for each sensor,
which could mean very involved cabling where multi-cavity
molds are concerned.” But Kistler and other firms have come out
with new multi-channel technology that allows a single cable to
transmit signals from multiple sensors—up to eight in Kistler’s
case. The firm recently introduced CoMo Injection, a 24-channel,
stand-alone cavity-pressure monitoring system that assesses part
quality on a pass/fail basis and controls the injection process in
real time (e.g., for switch-over to holding pressure).

Kistler generally advocates placing a sensor in each cavity,

though not all customers choose to do so. The benefit of cavity-
pressure sensing, according to Kistler, RJG, and other sources is
that it not only reveals the end point of filling, but provides a
profile of how the pressure develops as filling is completed and
packing begins. This allows a more detailed diagnosis of filling or
imbalance problems in the mold. According to Schnerr, cavity
pressure sensing is most often used for monitoring, diagnosis,
and quality control—and to control pressure switchover for the
shot as a whole. But in cases of imbalance between multiple
cavities, differences in fill time and pressure can be used to
correct, either manually or automatically, temperature of hot-
runner tips to adjust the balance.

The Intellimold system from MGV Enterprises uses melt-pressure

sensing in a different way. Intellimold controls melt pressure
within the runner and cavity by means of pressure sensors in two
places—in the injection machine nozzle and at the last place to
fill in the cavity. The system uses melt-pressure feedback to
control injection ram speed continuously and in real time
throughout the cycle so as to produce consistent pressure as the
melt front advances through the filling cycle. “Combining the two
signals into one control signal for the injection machine allows us
to monitor and control the machine’s response to the material’s
needs every millisecond,” says Milko Gergov, company founder
and president. He says this immediate response to the melt
behavior is more accurate than conventional injection profiles
through fixed linear ramping segments. Incidentally, MGV now
offers the Intellimold system with the Kistler CoMo injection
process monitor.

According to Gergov, controlling fill in a multi-cavity or family

tool requires only one cavity pressure sensor in the last cavity to
fill, even when there are severe filling imbalances (see photos).
The explanation is that Intellimold maintains constant internal
melt pressure (IMP) throughout the filling cycle, even when the
cavities don’t all fill at the same rate. If one cavity fills before the
others, the Intellimold system will sense the increased resistance
to flow after that cavity is full and will reduce the injection
velocity instantaneously to prevent melt pressure from spiking,
which would flash or overpack the full cavity. That way, all
cavities experience the same filling pressure, regardless of
whether they fill early or late.

MGV cites the example of a two-cavity mold that was supposed to

produce two polycarbonate headlamps weighing 500 g apiece.
Without Intellimold, one part weighted 449 g and the other 499 g.
“We switched on Intellimold and instantly the part weights were
498 g and 499 g and had less stress and better dimensions
because the parts packed out evenly,” says George Feth, director
of materials and process development. “Also, the cycle was at
least 10% faster.”

Intellimold can produce faster cooling, Gergov claims, because it

prevents air being trapped against the tool wall as the melt front
advances. Maintaining correct internal melt pressure prevents
the frozen skin layers from separating from the tool walls, which
would decrease cooling rates by three to five times, says Gergov.
“This reduces the need for higher pack pressures to push the skin
layers back against the mold, inducing stress in already solid
layers.” He says one customer used Intellimold on a 96-cavity PET
preform tool. “We trimmed a full second off the cycle and yielded
more effectively molded parts.”

“If you look at the top 100 molders in the U.S., cavity-pressure
sensing is an established technology,” says RJG’s Groleau. “We
have our systems running at eight of the 10 largest molders in
North America.” Overall, he says, the technique is used by less
than 15% of all the molders in the country but continues to gain
acceptance.

Groleau notes a growing number of applications are in higher-

cavitation molds. RJG routinely deals with 16 or more cavities.
(Kistler says its technology has been used with 96 cavities.) RJG
adds that its recent introduction of cavity temperature sensing
(see below) will allow even the highest-cavitation molds to be
monitored cost-effectively.

Priamus System Technologies has a different approach to solving

flow imbalance. Priamus believes that cavity pressure sensing
only provides part of the process story. “Post-gate cavity pressure
provides the best signal for process optimization,” says president
Susan Montgomery, “but it is cavity temperature placed near the
end of the flow path that tells us how the plastic is filling the
mold and if the material viscosity is changing. With control
systems based on melt-front detection, our customers are seeing
at least 50% more consistent part weights and dimensions.”

The Priamus Fill system is designed for automatic closed-loop

control of multi-cavity and family molds, multi-material injection,
sequential valve-gated molds, as well as LSR molds. The Fill
system analyzes the filling of each cavity by sensing the melt
presence at the end of flow with a cavity temperature sensor and
compares the fill-time differences from cavity to cavity. Via
communication with the hot-runner temperature controller,
Priamus Fill automatically overwrites the nozzle-tip
temperatures so that all cavities fill equally at the same time. This
means that all of the cavities experience the same holding
pressure, which translates to more consistent part weight and
dimensions.

Says Montgomery, “This automatic adjustment compensates for

material viscosity changes so that more consistent parts are
produced” (see graph). Priamus Fill has software interfaces for
use with more than 20 hot-runner temperature controller types,
and the number is growing. Numerous Priamus Fill systems are
running worldwide on molds with up to 128 cavities or more.

The Priamus Fill system includes an option called Priamus Cool,

to communicate with the mold temperature controllers and mold
cooling circuits. Priamus Cool makes adjustments so that the
mold surface temperature gradient is minimized.

The cavity temperature signal can be used for machine transfer

from first- to second-stage pressure. This automatic transfer
method, as contrasted with “fixed level” type methods (setting a
fixed cavity pressure or screw position as the transfer point), also
compensates for material viscosity variations. The signal from
the cavity temperature sensor is sent immediately (within
fractions of a millisecond) as the melt front is detected.

Priamus offers single-cable, multichannel sensor systems and

other options for process control. Last year, Priamus introduced
the Pass controller, which records cavity pressure, temperature,
and—for the first time—real-time online melt-viscosity
 determination for each cycle. At a glance, molders can see if their
process is running within limits and have an immediate
indication of part quality.

Typical cavity pressure or temperature monitors and controllers

cost from around $5000 to over $10,000. Sensors can cost from
$400 to $1100 apiece.

VALVE-GATE SOLUTIONS

Another way to overcome mold imbalance without removing the

causes is to use hot-runner valve gates. Ewikon, Mold-Masters,
and other hot-runner suppliers say sequential valve gating is an
expensive solution to mold imbalance, but it can be used to shut
off flow to fast-filling cavities to prevent flashing or overpacking,
while allowing slower-filling cavities to continue filling. Peter
Rebholz, v.p. of sales at Osco, considers this situation more likely
to occur in family molds with parts having different weights and
wall sections. “There you anticipate different filling parameters.
But if it is multiple cavities of the same part, we rarely see filling
imbalances,” he says.

For cases where cavities do not fill uniformly, Osco developed a

simpler and less expensive approach than sequential valve
gating. Osco’s Flow Control System (FCS) uses a flow-control valve
controlled by a worm-gear assembly. The molder can adjust each
nozzle’s flow at the press by turning a knob. The setting remains
fixed once adjusted. FCS costs more than a standard hot-tip
system but less than a sequential valve-gate system.
 Varying the flow restriction through pin position in valve gates is
also the essential concept behind the Dynamic Feed system from
Synventive Molding Solutions. However, this is a real-time,
closed-loop flow-control system. “It lets you establish a pressure-
versus-time profile for each drop location, letting you determine
rate of fill and the level of packing,” says Joe Lang, automotive
business manager. Dynamic Feed uses pressure sensors in the
mold to control the valve pins in a way that maintains uniform
pressure through the filling cycle. “With conventional valve
gating or sequential gating, the pressure is typically higher in the
center of the manifold, with less pressure present on the outside
of the manifold. So the farther the melt flows through the system,
the more pressure is lost,” says Lang. Dynamic Feed adjusts the
pressures at the nozzle to distribute pressure evenly throughout
the flow path.

Dynamic Feed consists of a hot runner, a controller and a

hydraulic power source. A Windows-based program is used to set
an injection and packing profile for each gate location. The
controller reads the pressure at the drop location and matches it
to a stored profile by adjusting the position of the flow-control
pin using the hydraulic actuator. Each pin is operated
independently on a separate real-time closed loop—in effect,
permitting independent injection at each gate.

HOT-RUNNER ENHANCEMENTS
Hot-runner suppliers say they have changed the ways they design
and manufacture their components and systems to minimize the
tendencies for naturally balanced molds to become unbalanced.
For example, sources at D-M-E and Mold-Masters note that
starting in the mid 1980s, hot-runner suppliers began to design
multi-level manifold systems for use with multi-cavity tools, as an
alternative to “H” shaped manifolds that placed all of the drops
on the same level. Suppliers came up with “X” and “Y” channel
layouts having a tiered runner system with one heated channel
stacked above the next. These add cost and create a thicker
manifold that requires more daylight in the injection press, but
they can help equalize flow lengths and allow for higher
cavitation.

Mold-Masters also offers a two-piece brazed-plate manifold

design that is said to minimize hang-up points and dead spots,
which can occur in gun-drilled or pressed-in intersections. “The
brazed technology eliminates localized shear heating around
sharp corners by eliminating sharp corners like the ones you
would see in a gun-drilled radius,” says Catoen. “We have a
customer that was using relatively low cavitation and molding
the part a little heavier as a safety margin to ensure good fill,”
says Catoen. “But he needed to make more units faster or he
would lose the job. He changed to a brazed-plate hot-runner
system in a stack mold that operated in the same machine as the
previous mold. He raised output and was able to reduce part
weight by 25% while keeping scrap rates low.”
D-M-E sources acknowledge the advantages of brazed plates for
hot runners but also cite disadvantages such as the potential for
thermal differences between the plates, which can lead to fatigue.

Mold-Masters and other hot-runner suppliers emphasize the

importance of very uniform heat control in hot-runner nozzles to
prevent mold imbalances. The nozzle design must ensure
consistent and accurate temperature down to the gate area, “so
that the thermal gates all break open during the next shot at the
same time,” says Catoen.

Independently controlled temperature zones in the manifold are

also helpful in overcoming imbalances, say hot-runner suppliers
such as Synventive and Melt Design. Synventive uses heat pipes
for fast and uniform heat delivery in its Advanced Power
Transfer (APT, formerly Kona XP) manifold designs. “Some
applications require independent heat control in the gate area,”
says Synventive’s Lang. “For these applications, we recommend
our Advanced Power Input (API, formerly the MZ line).

Martin Baumann, hot-runner business manager for Husky

Injection Molding Systems, says detailed thermal analysis of the
manifold at the design stage is an important factor in obtaining
good mold balance. Husky models the temperature of the melt-
channel wall, not just the surface, by taking into account the plate
steel, insulation, water cooling, etc. Baumann says empirical
testing of this model shows it can predict temperature within ±2°
C.
Ewikon Molding Technology offers a new “Flow Element
Technology” designed to minimize flow problems in a multi-
cavity hot runner. The technology is used in places where the
melt channel splits or undergoes a level change or change in
direction. Ewikon’s two-piece design has one half of the channel
machined in one block and the other half of the channel in the
other. The two blocks are vacuum brazed together to form a plug
or block. “This method ensures that the outside and inside angle
turns and level changes are perfect, with no extended radius on
the outside edge that can led to hang-ups or dead spots,” says
president David Boxall. Flow Element Technology is utilized for
shear-sensitive materials, quick color changes, and also for
unusual situations such as systems with an odd number of drops.

Some hot-runner suppliers apply mixing in the nozzle and/or

manifold to ensure thermal homogenization and minimize
imbalances. D-M-E sources caution against using static mixers for
this purpose, as they can add too much backpressure and provide
areas for resin hang-up. Some newer technologies are said to
avoid those drawbacks.

Husky, for example, offers its UltraFlow mixing technology, which

consists of a spiral melt channel in the nozzle or manifold that
mixes the melt. It was designed primarily to reduce molded-in
stresses, warpage, and flow lines, as well as to speed color
changes. Ultraflow recently became available in Husky’s 750
valve gate.
 Melt Design Inc. (MDi) also offers melt mixing in its manifold
design. This technology has been applied to two-shot molds, stack
molds with up to 2 X 48 cavities, and single-face tools having up
to 64 cavities, says president Panos Trakas. He adds, “MDi became
aware of the imbalance issues of multi-cavity molds in the early
1990s. We developed a method for balancing and changing melt
direction and melt elevations within the manifold, along with
very tight control of flow-channel size, and we have had excellent
results.”

Technoject, which represents Heitec hot-runner systems from

Germany, can help achieve precise balancing of small parts with
nozzle spacings of 1 in. or less by using its special angled
manifold channel exits. In some cases, it may not be possible to
naturally balance a system, says Technoject’s Paul Boettger. He
cites the example of a battery case with five gates in a row
feeding each battery compartment. Due to the odd number of
gates and varying wall thicknesses, flow restrictors were added to
the manifold to permit individual flow adjustment to each gate. 

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