Progress on Residual Stress of Injection Moldings

FANG Zechu; HU Xiaoyue; GONG Feng; SHAN Zhi

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-6457.2026.09.024

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Journal of Netshape Forming Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (9) : 240-250. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-6457.2026.09.024

Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Equipment

Progress on Residual Stress of Injection Moldings

FANG Zechu¹, HU Xiaoyue¹, GONG Feng², SHAN Zhi^1,*

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Abstract

Injection molding is a dominant manufacturing process for polymer products. However, the residual stresses generated during molding significantly limit product performance and service life. Especially in optical components, stress-induced birefringence can seriously degrade light transmission and imaging quality. Studies show that residual stresses in injection molding mainly come from three sources: thermal stress, flow stress, and ejection stress. Thermal stress, caused by uneven cooling, creates stress gradients along the thickness direction and is usually the largest in magnitude. Flow stress is closely related to molecular chain orientation. Ejection stress can be effectively controlled through proper mold design. Stress detection techniques are divided into two categories: destructive and non-destructive. Non-destructive methods such as photoelasticity and X-ray diffraction are suitable for transparent or modified materials. Destructive methods such as hole drilling and layer removal can achieve higher accuracy for complex components. Stress control mainly relies on optimizing process parameters, including mold temperature, melt temperature, and injection rate, as well as annealing treatments. Current challenges include unclear multiphysics coupling mechanisms and insufficient detection accuracy. Future research should focus on developing in-situ detection systems, building data-driven process-stress models, and exploring intelligent algorithm-assisted process design and real-time control. This paper systematically reviews the progress in residual stress research, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for future studies and promote the development of high-precision manufacturing.

Key words

injection molding / thermal residual stress / flow residual stress / destructive detection / non-destructive detection

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FANG Zechu, HU Xiaoyue, GONG Feng, SHAN Zhi. Progress on Residual Stress of Injection Moldings[J]. Journal of Netshape Forming Engineering. 2026, 18(9): 240-250 https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1674-6457.2026.09.024

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation Joint Fund Key Project (U2341272); The Special Project in Key Field of Scientific Research Platforms and Projects of Guangdong Higher Education Institutions (2021ZDZX2081)