Injection molding using a Generalized Eulerian Lagrangian formulation

A mathematical and a numerical approach to model the injection mold filling stage is presented. The approach is based on a Generalized Eulerian Lagrangian (GEL) formulation. In purely Lagrangian formulations the solution is obtained at mesh points which follow the local fluid velocity. On the other hand, in Eulerian formulations the mesh is fixed and the solution is obtained at fixed spatial locations. In injection molding different parts of the flow domain are best analyzed by one but not both formulation methods. The Generalized Eulerian Lagrangian formulation combines the advantages of both formulations: In the same flow problem but different regions the GEL formulation allows the selective application of an Eulerian, Lagrangian, or a mixture of the two formulations. In this work the melt is described using the White-Metzner constitutive relation and results are shown and discussed for the filling of a cavity from a single gate and from a fully open end under different process conditions.