Abstract
Gas Assisted Injection Molding is a relatively new low-pressure injection molding technique that provides benefits such as reduced part warpage, excellent surface quality without shrink marks, greater design flexibility, etc. In the gas assisted injection molding process, the injected pressurized nitrogen gas flows through designed gas channels and forms hollow sections within the part. However, due to the characteristics of the gas, the design of the gas channels which are the paths for the injected gas is important in order to avoid defects such as gas blowout, fingering, etc. Therefore, in this study, the gas channel design for gas assisted injection molding of exterior display panels was conducted by examining the results of three CAE analyses. The designed gas channel was verified by conducting tryouts using a 450 ton injection molding machine with 3-stage pressure controlled gas kit. In addition, the hollow shapes which were formed by the gas with the installed gas channels were examined by examining the cross sections of the prototypes that were produced. As a result, it was found that exterior display panels can be produced without any defect by applying the gas assisted injection molding technique.