Metal injection molding

[maruggi2008]

Hello to everybody. I would like to know if it is possible to simulate metal injection molding using Moldflow, and in particular if it is possible to evaluate density gradient of mel powder inside the part.

Thanks in advance

Marco Salvador

[Shawn_Gedman]

Hello Marco,

We've had a few users that have attempted to simulate MIM, but there are a few obstacles to overcome. 

• Metals do not necessarily exhibit the same flow characteristics as plastics.  They can slip along the mold wall so this makes simulating them difficult with the current flow solvers.  We rarely see wall slip when molding plastic parts, but I've seen it before on resins with a very high fiber content.  Due to this, we were working on a slip boundary condition that would allow us to see this, but it's still in the development stages so I'm not sure when/if we will release it.
• The material characterization is a little tricky as well.  Metals are typically outside the temperature range of the testing equipment we have in our labs so it has to be done through a third party lab. 

In the end, the software was not designed for this purpose so we do not officially support it.  The users that typically try to simulate MIM seem to be mainly concerned with fill patterns so I'm not familiar with anyone that has tried to evaluate the density gradient within a part.     

[HNW_CHM_2012]

Hi Shawn, 

                   Can you please let me know if we've the MIM module (Metal injection Molding) in Moldflow 2015 ?

Regards

Ram

[maxmarautodesk]

Hey,

I use Moldflow 2015. I guess you refer to the type of process that can be selected in Moldflow, when you ask for the metal injection module. There is no dedicated module available for metal injection molding, as you can see in my attached screen shot.

However, the molding steps of metal injection molding and thermoplastic injection molding are procedure-wise alike. Hence, you can basically use the thermoplastic injection module in Moldflow for metal injection molding.

Still, there are some differences regarding the behavior of the used materials, as Shawn points out nicely. Metal feedstocks have much higher density, inertia can become important again, wall slip is likely to occur, some people even have experienced shear thickening. Besides that, there is usually not enough mechanical and rheological data of the feedstocks available for using it in Moldflow.

If the data base is sufficient, it should be possible to simulate metal injection molding meaning the software can handle it and you will get some result. As Shawn mentioned, it can give you an idea about the flow behavior. The numbers are not reliable or accurate though. I do not know either whether the density gradient evaluation is technically possible or whether it makes sense due to the aforementioned issues and inaccuracy.

Best regards,
Max

[HNW_CHM_2012]

Hi Max,

             Thank you very much for the quick reply .Also I appreciate the details shared .

Regards,

Ram

[edwardbrooks982]

Hey Everyone,

I think there are number of and quick ways for metal injection moulding .. 

Metal injection moulding have some fundamental requirements in each step of the process.. like Metal powder, binders,mixing, moulding, De-binding, Sintering, Post sintering operations, 

Thanks

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