Thermography

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Portable and on-site - “Infrared Thermography”

Solving problems with colored pictures is not only possible, it’s very practical today! Identifying the source of a molding or tooling problem is one of the first steps in developing a solution. Being able to see the actual heating and cooling issues in colors and in patterns reflecting the overall area can be far more useful than any simple temperature probe on one spot. You might have set the heating controller at 180 degrees, but what temperatures are you actually getting in the mold.... we know that there’s probably some heat losses we can identify, but can you locate those “hotspots” in the tool that may be responsible for “driving the cycle” to places you’d rather not go? Infrared thermography images can help you accomplish this quite easily.

Thru the use of a highly portable infrared camera, we can now photograph and document the thermal “signatures” and patterns for new or existing tooling and parts to identify “hotspots” and inconsistancies in the overall cooling patterns. Views of the ejected part(s) can help to pinpoint additional warpage issues with either the methods or placement of parts within the first few minutes of ejection. An accurate understanding of these patterns can help to identify overall heat losses (or build-ups) in the mold, press, water heaters, manifolds, excessive heater hoses, injection barrel bands, electrical cabinets, platens and drying equip

Infrared cameras have been around for quite a long time, but some of the earlier models were often “too bulky, expensive and time consuming to get the results” to be of interest. They have undergone some impressive technology advancements in the past few years and have been integrated thoroughly into some of our other technology tools. Being able to capture photos that can demonstrate this thermal signature is almost as impressive as being able to turn this into a “hard copy” view or report of the findings very quickly. Being able to obtain the results thru our services can be a very productive option for you.




	Brass or bronze water line manifolds are a good way to simplify the hookup of water lines but can also waste the energy/heat by excess radiation into the air.




	Measuring core tips for temperature consistancy can often be done without shutting down the press or interrupting the process.


	The photo to the right is a “heat signature” of microprocessor circuitry as it is being used. The hottest portions show in three areas with “green trending to yellow and then red patterns.”

	Infrared thermography can help to identify problems that might otherwise go undetected and in many cases can permit you to “see” the issues that might otherwise fail at the worst of times.

Multiple tubular fittings on a larger manifold are important to cool evenly to provide consistent sizes.

A timed study of the cooling patterns (which in this case varies from one end to the other) can help to show the specific cooling patterns that relate to the part sizes when totally cooled.

Thicker sections obviously take longer to cool and can at the same time impact the surrounding areas with warpage and variations in diameters.


	Uneven heat distribution can often provide further answers to why dimensions and functional features may not be as controllable as you wish. Understanding more about your parts provides insight into the tooling and process that you have to work with in existing tools and can help re-direct efforts in tooling modifications to permit changes to be more effective.

Basic thermography photo of a clear lens. Even though we can see thru the part, it will appear as an opaque surface to the infrared camera. The value of this photo is simply to show the balance and consistancy from the gate end to the end of flow.

In this case, the temperature drop was less than 10 deg. F - resulting in even cooling, minimal stress influences and flat parts. The lightest color around the perimeter is the thinnest material and prone to cool down faster.

Choices made during the part design phase of a program often do not get the full exposure of what the effect is until you start to get parts out of the tool.

Material choices as well as optimised cooling within the tool may be of some help if these issues are raised in a timeframe to actually permit alternate choices.

Being able to “see’ the heat problem within the part often helps others to understand the most effective solutions.


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