Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

There are always some problems on the parts produced by conventional injection method, such as weld mark,x000D
flow mark, and other poor surface appearance. As a result, the mechanical properties and appearance of thex000D
plastic parts usually cannot meet the requirements of customers. The subsequent reprocessing operations havex000D
to be employed in order to improve the part's properties. These operations increase the manufacturing processesx000D
of parts and waste raw material and energy. What is worse, they also increase the production cost and causex000D
environment pollution inevitably. A novel polymer injection molding method has been developed. It canx000D
produce high-quality plastic parts with excellent appearance and no weld marks. The subsequentx000D
processes-spraying and coating which seriously pollute the environment-can be eliminated. The energy,x000D
material, and production cost are decreased as well. In order to improve the cost-efficiency and part qualityx000D
further, the thermal response and heating/cooling efficiency of the temperature control system and the moldx000D
was identified. The parameters of heating medium and coolant and mold thermal conductivity werex000D
systematically investigated. With the progress of advanced manufacturing techniques, conformal coolingx000D
channels used to improve cooling efficiency and uniformity in the mold were designed and fabricated. Thex000D
mold structure and the lifetime of the mold were also investigated in order to reduce the consumption of thex000D
energy and improve the production efficiency and part quality.