Simulation Of Micro Injection Moulding With Emphasis On The Formulation Of Feedstock Viscosity: Use Of Non-equilibrium Molecular Dynamics For The Determination Of Viscosity Of Multi-body Fluid

The need for prediction of shear viscosity of fluid in particle charged-Micro Injection Molding at mesoscale, by modelling a whole system particle-polymer with inter-dependencies, permits to establish a more realistic feedstock viscosity formulation. The applicability of non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) is investigated for the determination of shear viscosity of melts composed of particles/polymers in microcavities. NEMD is used to simulate planar Poiseuille flow of metallic particle-polymer melt. Simulations are carried out using molecular dynamics simulation package ESPResSo. The variation of viscosity face to temperature is in agreement with theoretical results. Simulations are compared to experiments. The equivalent viscosity formulation is tuned according to NEMD simulation results, and implemented in a MIM solver built up by the authors. MIM simulations are compared to previously implemented simulations using another equivalent viscosity formulation based on experiments for the case of mono-injection moulding. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.