Downloads

Pinto, J. P. M., Campilho, R. D. S. G., Silva, F. J. G., Kirgiz, M. S., & Salwin, M. Development of an Injection Nozzle Heating System to Produce Automotive Control Cables. Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing. 2025. doi: Retrieved from https://w3.sciltp.com/journals/jmem/article/view/572
Volume 1, Issue 1, 2025
Copyright (c) 2025 by the authors.
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Article

Development of an Injection Nozzle Heating System to Produce Automotive Control Cables

João Pedro Madureira Pinto 1,†, Raul Duarte Salgueiral Gomes Campilho 1,2,*,†, Francisco José Gomes da Silva 1,2,†, Mehmet Serkan Kirgiz 3,† and Mariusz Salwin 4,†

1 CIDEM, ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal

2 INEGI—Pólo FEUP, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 400, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal

3 Department of Civil, Architectural and Construction Engineering and Management, Academia of ACMCEN, 4017, Beaverton, OR 97075, USA

4 Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute of Organization of Production Systems, Warsaw University of Technology, 85 Narbutta Street, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland

* Correspondence: raulcampilho@gmail.com; Tel.: +351-228340500

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received: 28 October 2024; Revised: 21 January 2025; Accepted: 7 March 2025; Published: 11 March 2025

Abstract: The automotive industry plays a vital role in the global economy, significantly contributing through job creation, resource utilization, and driving technical and technological advancements. Control cables play an indispensable role in various vehicle mechanisms, including the control of windows, doors, and critical functions such as the handbrake and throttle. The terminals attached to these control cables are small, die-cast components, most commonly fabricated from light alloys with low melting temperatures, such as the zinc-based alloy Zamak. One of the key challenges encountered in the production of these terminals is the difficulty in maintaining consistent heating of the injection nozzle, which can hinder the smooth removal of parts from the mold. This research proposes an innovative method to improve the heating of injection nozzles used in the manufacturing of zamak control cable terminals by employing electromagnetic induction. Typically, the heating process is conducted using electrical resistors, which lack precision in temperature regulation and respond slowly to fluctuations in nozzle temperature. The solution introduced in this study involves an induction heating system, tuned to operate at 155 kHz and 410 W of power. The system’s design features a multi-coil solenoid inductor, optimal for cylindrical components, and incorporates a pyrometer for continuous temperature monitoring. Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis revealed that maintaining an injection nozzle temperature of 550 °C requires the surrounding injection set to reach 600 °C. The return on investment for implementing this induction heating technology was calculated to be around 7 years and 8 months.

Keywords:

automotive industry control cable assembly die casting electromagnetic induction

References

  1. Barbosa, A.F.G.; Campilho, R.D.S.G.; Silva, F.J.G.; Sánchez-Arce, I.J.; Prakash, C.; Buddhi, D. Design of a spiral double-cutting machine for an automotive bowden cable assembly line. Machines 2022, 10, 811.
  2. Sousa, V.F.C.; Silva, F.J.G.; Ferreira, L.P.; Campilho, R.D.S.G.; Pereira, T.; Braga, E. Improving the design of nozzles used in zamak high-pressure die-casting process. FME Trans. 2021, 49, 1005–1013.
  3. Groover, M.P. Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing—Materials, processes and Systems, 7th ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2019; p. 1016.
  4. Girijappa, Y.G.T.; Ayyappan, V.; Puttegowda, M.; Rangappa, S.M.; Parameswaranpillai, J.; Siengchin, S. Plastics in automotive applications. In Encyclopedia of Materials: Plastics and Polymers; Hashmi, M.S.J., Ed.; Elsevier: Oxford, UK, 2022; pp. 103–113.
  5. Lee, H. Thermal Design: Heat Sinks, Thermoelectrics, Heat Pipes, Compact Heat Exchangers, and Solar Cells; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2022.
  6. Dwivedi, D.K. Fundamentals of Metal Joining: Processes, Mechanism and Performance; Springer: Berlin, Germany, 2022; pp. 33–45.
  7. Li, F.; Qi, Z.; Zhao, R.; Liu, Y.; Xiao, Y.; Luo, J.; Sun, P.; Wen, J.; Chen, Z.; Hu, J. Efficiency analysis of induction heating systems with respect to electromagnetic shielding film’s properties. J. Alloys Compd. 2024, 1004, 175667.
  8. Hornby, M.J.; John, F.; Nally, W.; Sayar, H.; CZimmek, P.R. Fuel Injector with Inductive Heater; U.S.P.A. Publication: Fredericksburg, VA, USA, 2007.
  9. Sun, R.; Shi, Y.; Pei, Z.; Li, Q.; Wang, R. Heat transfer and temperature distribution during high-frequency induction cladding of 45 steel plate. Appl. Therm. Eng. 2018, 139, 1–10.
  10. Guerrier, P.; Tosello, G.; Nielsen, K.K.; Hattel, J.H. Three-dimensional numerical modeling of an induction heated injection molding tool with flow visualization. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 2016, 85, 643–660. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-7955-8.
  11. Yang, Y.; Liu, X.; Wang, S. Thermal characteristics of induction heating with stepped diameter mold during two-phase zone continuous casting high-strength aluminum alloys. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 2020, 152, 119479.
  12. Yang, Y.; Liu, X.; Wang, S. Electromagnetic-thermal coupling behaviors and thermal convection during two-phase zone continuous casting high strength aluminum alloy tube. Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 2021, 123, 105211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2021.105211.
  13. Thongsri, J.; Poopanya, P.; Sriphalang, S.; Pattanapichai, S. The Development of a High-Efficiency Small Induction Furnace for a Glass Souvenir Production Process Using Multiphysics. Clean Technol. 2024, 6, 1181–1202.
  14. Vom Brocke, J.; Hevner, A.; Maedche, A. (Eds.) Introduction to design science research. In Design Science Research Cases; Springer: Berlin, Germany, 2020; pp. 1–13.
  15. Pereira, J.L.T.A.; Campilho, R.D.S.G.; Silva, F.J.G.; Sánchez-Arce, I.J.; Prakash, C.; Buddhi, D. Improving the efficiency of the bowden cable terminal injection process for the automotive industry. Processes 2022, 10, 1953. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10101953.
  16. Esteve, V.; Bellido, J.L.; Jordán, J. State of the art and future trends in monitoring for industrial induction heating applications. Electronics 2024, 13, 2591.
  17. Biesuz, M.; Saunders, T.; Ke, D.; Reece, M.J.; Hu, C.; Grasso, S. A review of electromagnetic processing of materials (EPM): Heating, sintering, joining and forming. J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 2021, 69, 239–272.
  18. Wang, Q.; Wang, L.; Song, X.; Qi, Z. Characteristic analysis of irregular workpiece based on electromagnetic induction heating technology. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2022, 2399, 012030.
  19. Heidari, H.; Tavakoli, M.H.; Shokri, A.; Mohamad Moradi, B.; Mohammad Sharifi, O.; Asaad, M.J.M. 3D simulation of the coil geometry effect on the induction heating process in Czochralski crystal growth system. Cryst. Res. Technol. 2020, 55, 1900147.
  20. Günen, A.; Karahan, İ.H.; Karakaş, M.S.; Kurt, B.; Kanca, Y.; Çay, V.V.; Yıldız, M. Properties and corrosion resistance of AISI H13 hot-work tool steel with borided B 4 C powders. Met. Mater. Int. 2020, 26, 1329–1340.
  21. Prasad, A.K.; Kapil, S.; Bag, S. Tailoring coil geometry for secondary heating of substrate towards the development of induction heating-based wire additive manufacturing. Sci. Technol. Weld. Join. 2022, 28, 209–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/13621718.2022.2144800.
  22. Tekaüt, İ. Investigation of the microstructure, machinability and hole quality of AISI 1045 steel forged at different temperatures. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part E J. Process Mech. Eng. 2023, 237, 1866–1877.
  23. Peng, X.; Xu, G.; Zhou, A.; Yang, Y.; Ma, Z. An adaptive Bernstein-Bézier finite element method for heat transfer analysis in welding. Adv. Eng. Softw. 2020, 148, 102855.
  24. Rudnev, V.; Loveless, D.; Cook, R.L. Handbook of Induction Heating, 2nd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2002; p. 772.
  25. Omi, M.N.A. Optimization of Thermal Performance by Enhancing Natural Convection of Diverse Configurations of Fin Heat Sink Filled With Nano‐Enhanced Phase Change Materials: A Numerical Study. Heat Transf. 2024, 54, 1267–1280.
  26. SAE-AISI H13 (T20813)—Chromium Hot-Work Steel. Available online: https://www.makeitfrom.com/material-properties/SAE-AISI-H13-T20813-Chromium-Hot-Work-Steel (accessed on 1 July 2023).
  27. Davies, E.J. Conduction and Induction Heating, Reprinted 2007 ed.; Jonhs, A.T., Platts, J.R., Ratcliffe, G., Eds.; The Institution of Engineering and Technology: London, UK 1990; p. 417.