Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Optimization and Simulation of Plastic Injection Process using Genetic Algorithm and Moldflow

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering Submit manuscript

Abstract

The use of plastic-based products is continuously increasing. The increasing demands for thinner products, lower production costs, yet higher product quality has triggered an increase in the number of research projects on plastic molding processes. An important branch of such research is focused on mold cooling system. Conventional cooling systems are most widely used because they are easy to make by using conventional machining processes. However, the non-uniform cooling processes are considered as one of their weaknesses. Apart from the conventional systems, there are also conformal cooling systems that are designed for faster and more uniform plastic mold cooling. In this study, the conformal cooling system is applied for the production of bowl-shaped product made of PP AZ564. Optimization is conducted to initiate machine setup parameters, namely, the melting temperature, injection pressure, holding pressure and holding time. The genetic algorithm method and Moldflow were used to optimize the injection process parameters at a minimum cycle time. It is found that, an optimum injection molding processes could be obtained by setting the parameters to the following values: T M = 180 °C; P inj = 20 MPa; P hold = 16 MPa and t hold = 8 s, with a cycle time of 14.11 s. Experiments using the conformal cooling system yielded an average cycle time of 14.19 s. The studied conformal cooling system yielded a volumetric shrinkage of 5.61% and the wall shear stress was found at 0.17 MPa. The difference between the cycle time obtained through simulations and experiments using the conformal cooling system was insignificant (below 1%). Thus, combining process parameters optimization and simulations by using genetic algorithm method with Moldflow can be considered as valid.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. ROSATO D V, ROSATO D V, ROSATO M G. Injection Molding Handbook[M]. 3rd ed. Massachusetts: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.

  2. SACHS E, WYLONIS E, ALLEN S, CIMA M, GUO H. Production of injection molding tooling with conformal cooling channels using the three dimensional printing process[J]. Polymer Engineering and Science, 2000, 40(5): 1232–1247.

  3. DIMLA D E, CAMILOTTO M, MIANI F. Design and optimisation of conformal cooling channels in injection moulding tools[J]. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2005, 164165: 1294–1300.

  4. FARSHI B, GHESHMI S, MIANDOABCHI E. Optimization of injection molding process parameters using sequential simplex algorithm[J]. Materials & Design, 2011, 32(1): 414–423.

  5. VISHNUVARTHANAN M, PANDA R, ILANGOVAN S. Optimization of injection molding cycle time using moldflow analysis[J]. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 2013, 13(7): 944–946.

  6. KAMARUDDIN S, KHAN Z A, FOONG S H. Application of Taguchi method in the optimization of injection moulding parameters for manufacturing products from plastic blend[J]. IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2010, 2(6): 574–580.

  7. PAREEK R, BHAMNIYA J. Optimization of injection moulding process using Taguchi and ANOVA[J]. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 2013, 4(1).

  8. LAHOTI S N, NADAR M D, KULKARNI S S. Optimization of critical processing parameters for plastic injection molding for enhance productivity and reduced time for development[J]. International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies, 2014, III(II): 66–71.

  9. NOOR RAHBAR N, KUMAR S. Optimisation of process parameters for LDPE material in injection moulding machine using Taguchi methodology[J]. International Journal Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), 2015, 4(7): 81–83.

  10. HUSSIN R, MOHD SAAD R, HUSSIN R, MOHD DAWI M S I. An optimization of plastic injection molding parameters using Taguchi optimization method[J]. Asian Transactions on Engineering, 2012, 2(5): 75–80.

  11. MEIABADI M S, VAFAEESAFAT A, SHARIFI F. Optimization of plastic injection molding process by combination of Artificial Neural Network and Genetic Algorithm[J]. Journal of Optimization in Industrial Engineering, 2013, 13: 49–54.

  12. PÖTSCH G, MICHAELI W. Injection Molding: An Introduction[M]. Munich: Hanser Verlag, 2008.

  13. RAO N S, SCHUMACHER G. Design Formulas for Plastics Engineers[M]. 2nd ed. Munich: Hanser Publishers, 2004.

  14. SHAYFULL Z, SHARIF S, MOHD ZAIN A, GHAZALI M F, MOHD SAAD R. Potential of conformal cooling channels in rapid heat cycle molding: a review[J]. Advances in Polymer Technology, 2014, 33(1): 1–24.

  15. SAIFULLAH A B M, MASOOD S H. (2007). Cycle time reduction in injection moulding with conformal cooling channels[C]//Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechanical Engineering 2007(ICME2007), Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 29–31, 2007: ICME07-AM-42.

  16. DANG X P, PARK H S. Design of U-shape milled groove conformal cooling channels for plastic injection molding[J]. International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 2011, 12(1): 73–84.

  17. MOK S L, KWONG C K. Application of artificial neural network and fuzzy logic in a case-based system for initial process parameter setting of injection molding. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 2002, 13(3): 165–176.

  18. SUYANTO. Genetic algorithm in Matlab[M]. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Andi, 2005. (in Indonesian)

  19. PARK H S, DANG X P. Design and Simulation-Based Optimization of Cooling Channels for Plastic Injection Mold. New Technologies - Trends, Innovations and Research[M]. ISBN: 978-953-51-0480-3. Rijeka, Croatia: InTech, 2012.

  20. MENGES G, MICHAELI W, MOHREN P. How to Make Injection Molds[M]. 3rd ed, Munich: Hanser Publishers, 2001.

  21. PARK S J, KWON T H. Optimal cooling system design for the injection molding process[J]. Polymer Engineering and Science, 1998, 38(9): 14501462.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sigit Yoewono Martowibowo.

Additional information

Supported by Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Martowibowo, S.Y., Kaswadi, A. Optimization and Simulation of Plastic Injection Process using Genetic Algorithm and Moldflow. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. 30, 398–406 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10033-017-0081-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10033-017-0081-9

Keywords

Navigation