LIMS: Liquid Injection Molding

Liquid Injection Molding Simulation (LIMS) Program

Liquid Injection Molding Simulation (LIMS) is a software tool that simulates the mold filling stage of Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) processes by modeling flow through porous media by Finite Element / Control Volume Method. It provides a simple and cost-effective way to verify and optimize filling process design by providing a “virtual” mold filling process. This allows one to avoid or reduce the actual physical trial and error process which tends to be resource-intensive and also to test effects of process parameters and disturbances without actually trying them (below).

LIMS has been successfully used to design and simulate intelligent or adaptive filling process that utilizes sensors mounted on the part and controllable injection hardware, either as a stand-alone program or as a simulation engine for other programs. Because of the scripting capability, various LCM process variants were successfully modeled.

The history of this simulation package goes to early 90’s when Bruschke and Advani created the original program based on even older simulation (TIMS) by Advani and Tucker. The program would solve the infusion flow within shell like structure (2.5D) and with second and third release some rudimentary flow control (sequential injection) and approximate non-isothermal solver.

In 1996-7 the program was rewritten from scratch by the current authors to implement the much faster incremental solver by R.S. Maier et al. and proper process controls. This became the version 4.0. The need for simulation engine to be controlled from other application lead to the version 4.1, which added the executable controllable from other programs, such as the graphical user interface below.

LIMS version 4.2. implemented simplified non-isothermal solver. This version was abandoned with growing requirements for fully three-dimensional simulation to deal with thick parts and distribution layers. These came – together with one-dimensional elements to model distribution lines and racetracking with the currently maintained version 5.0.

Several experimental versions were created to model flow in gravitational field, to improve the modeling of inlets and to provide full three-dimensional non-isothermal solver. Number of extensions were also added using the scripting engine.

For detailed information and to download the trial version see Lims website