Numerical Investigation on Thermo-Mechanical Characteristics of Injection-Molded Thermoplastics using Anisotropic Material Properties

This paper presents a comprehensive numerical methodology for simulating the coupled process-structure behavior of short glass fiber-reinforced, injection-molded thermoplastics. The approach integrates elastoplastic and anisotropic material characteristics using three engineering tools: Moldflow, Digimat, and ABAQUS. It accounts for fiber orientation and injection molding defects, linking to thermo-mechanical performance. This method enables accurate virtual modeling of real-time injection-molded components by transferring anisotropic data from Moldflow to ABAQUS. In this study, short fiber orientation and potential injection molding defects such as weld lines and residual stresses are discussed using Moldflow simulation. Besides, Digimat is employed as an interface tool to facilitate the transfer of Moldflow simulation results, namely fiber orientation and material behavior in the allied configurations directly into ABAQUS. This integration enables the evaluation of thermo-mechanical behavior in injection-molded thermoplastic components, incorporating material anisotropy. The simulation results demonstrate that anisotropic modeling effectively captures the influence of short fiber orientations, revealing localized stress distributions and macroscopic failure indicator results. Outcomes of the current approach are compared with isotropic simulations that exclude injection molding data, highlighting the advantages of incorporating process-induced anisotropy. These findings enhance understanding of the mechanical performance of short fiber-reinforced thermoplastics and provide a foundation for future integration of multi-scale finite element tools. The application of this methodology supports the development of cost-effective and efficient virtual product designs by accurately predicting deformation and failure under various loading conditions.