MOLDEX-3D

Special Prize in Greater China Region: Audix Corporation

Using Moldex3D to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Conformal Cooling in Resolving Sprue Cooling Problem

Industry: Electronics
Team Leader: Shih-Tsun Huang
Team Members: Chun-Lai Zhang, Zhao-Fu Ding, Yao Yao
Company/Team Introduction:
Audix, established in 1980, was a semiconductor electronic component distributor and expanded to certification and manufacturing. As of 2009, Audix Group consists of three business groups- electronic component distribution, manufacturing and technique services. It is headquartered in Taiwan with more than 3,000 employees in 11 affiliated companies currently.

Story Overview/Challenge:

Shih-Tsun Huang is an Engineering Manager at Audix. The part used in this case is a light pipe product. Due to the inefficient cooling around the sprue area, the molded parts exhibited warpage and mold flash defects. As opposed to using a conventional cooling design, Moldex3D was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of adopting a conformal cooling in the production to facilitate a more efficient cooling around the sprue area to avoid molding defects and improve the cycle time.

Solution:

Audix was looking for a better cooling solution to improve the inefficient cooling problem when producing the light pipe products. Conformal cooling technology could be a viable option for them; thus, they resorted to the simulation analysis of Moldex3D to explore this possibility. With the help of Moldex3D analysis, Audix was not only able to understand the substantial benefits of using conformal cooling to resolve their cooling challenge, but also was able to attain the most optimized design. With the efficient conformal cooling design, warpage and mold flash defects were resolved and the cooling time was also drastically shortened by close to 30%.

Results/Benefits:

• Resolved warpage & mold flash defects due to inefficient cooling
• Attained an ideal conformal cooling design to improve cooling
• Reduced the cooling time by 30%
• Reduced the cycle time by 21%

Product Used:

• Moldex3D Advanced Package
  – Flow
  – Pack
  – Cool
  – Warp
  – Transient Cool
  – 3D Coolant CFD
  – Conformal Cooling