Course: Understanding injection molding of thermoplastics
A Practical Approach to Injection Molding of Thermoplastics
Registration deadline 25 April 2025
Dr. Vito LEO, recognizing the industry’s need for a hands-on solution to Injection Molding challenges, founded the BIMS-1 seminar in 1999. Over the years, the course has evolved based on feedback from 3000 participants, with a focus on practical problem-solving.
In response to a demand for more practical content the seminar introduces a new format. The theoretical content will be streamlined, making room for a dynamic working group session facilitated by Vito LEO and Mads Jespersen from FlowHow ApS.
Course scope:
- Practical Exercise: Participants will engage in a simulation-oriented exercise using Moldex3D, addressing real-world molding challenges.
- Group Collaboration: Small groups will work on a molding case, making decisions on gate locations, filling times, packing pressure, and more.
- Live Simulation: Proposals will be live-simulated, with a debriefing session showcasing effective and ineffective choices made by the groups.
- Scoring System: A structured scoring system, based on issues like airtraps, warpage, shortshot, and clamp force, will determine winning groups proposing best in class molding solutions.
- Material Variety: Groups will work on either unfilled crystalline material or a GF compound, ensuring comprehensive coverage of material-specific challenges.
This innovative addition aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice, providing participants with a tangible understanding of applying learned materials to real industrial problem-solving scenarios.
Why consider attending the seminar?
- Interactive Learning: Engage in a highly interactive course where limited attendance ensures ample opportunities for questions, group discussions, and in-depth analysis of attendee-specific challenges.
- Open Discussion: Bring your parts drawings for open discussion whenever feasible, fostering a collaborative and inclusive learning environment.
- Efficient Learning: Gain a comprehensive introduction to the polymer injection molding process in just two days, optimizing your time and delivering valuable insights.
- Networking Opportunity: Expand your professional network by connecting with a diverse group of participants, including design engineers, mold-making specialists, molders, flow analysts, project leaders, and more.
- Expert Instruction: Benefit from the extensive expertise of Dr. Vito Leo, who boasts over 30 years of experience in Polymer Processing and is renowned for his excellence in teaching.
In addition to the new interactive/simulation session the seminar content covers:
- Fundamental thermal and rheological behavior of polymers
- Impact of pressure on polymer properties
- The intricate flow process in Injection Molding
- Examination of part geometry and flow patterns
- Insights into compressibility, phase change, and PVT data
- Exploration of crystallinity and its influence on processing
- Unveiling the critical packing phase for dimensional quality
- Strategies for effective part, mold, and process design ensuring proper cavity packing
- In-depth understanding of shrinkage build-up
- Addressing part warpage mechanisms with a focus on minimizing warpage based on material properties and part shape
- Special considerations for warpage in fiber-filled materials
- Exploring the concept of residual stresses and the compromise with warpage
- Concluding remarks, summarization, and seminar evaluation by the participants
Who Should Attend?
Tailored for various professionals, the seminar accommodates individuals such as design engineers, mold-making specialists, molders, flow analysts, project leaders, research engineers, mechanical engineers, material engineers, students, young professionals, flow analysis developers, and customer support engineers.
Important Note: The seminar may not be suitable for beginners in the field, despite no knowledge pre-requirements.
Statements from past participants:
‘I would like to praise Dr. Vito Leo for some very good lessons. He is a very good teacher and lecturer. It is very obvious that he is an expert in the field’, Jonas Holm-Christensen, Louis Poulsen
‘It was amazing’, Dana-Maria Cobzaru, R&D Engineer, Novo Nordisk A/S
‘All mechanical engineers need to go through the course’, Emil Gram Spork, Mechanical Design Engineer, Demant A/S
Vito Leo’s professional background:
Vito Leo is a physicist by training, and has been working for more than 40 years in the field of Polymer Processing. He is particularly active in the field of Injection Molding of Thermoplastics and the use of Finite Element Numerical Simulation of this process.
Vito Leo has worked for the largest chemical company in Belgium and been involved in a number of research projects in the field of Rheology and Injection Molding.
His well known expertise has recently gained him a position as Professor at Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he is currently teaching an introductory course in Polymer Processing to students of the Engineering Faculty.
Seminar hours
22 May: 10:00 to 17:30 (dinner from 18-20 – at your own cost)
23 May: 08.00 to 15:00.
