Heating properties of ERHCM molds based on heating cell units

A thermal analysis method was developed based on heating cell units to study the thermal response of electrical rapid heat cycle molding (ERHCM) molds. Heating efficiency, mold strength and uniformity of temperature distribution on the mold cavity surface were studied as a function of the distance from the center of heating rods to the mold cavity surface, which is one of the most important parameters for mold design. In this paper, the height/diameter (H/D) value was employed to describe the distance from the center of the heating rods to the mold cavity surface. Additionally, the maximum von Mises stress after heating was determined to describe the mold strength, and the temperature difference was applied to characterize the temperature distribution uniformity of the cavity surface. The results showed that electrical rapid heating cycle injection molds obtain reasonable heating efficiency, mold strength and cavity surface temperature uniformity when the distance from the center of heating rods to the mold cavity surface is approximately 1–1·5 times their diameter.