Optimization of Compression Molding Process Parameters for NFPC Manufacturing Using Taguchi Design of Experiment and Moldflow Analysis

Vardaan Chauhan,Timo Kärki,Juha Varis

doi:10.3390/pr9101853

Abstract

This paper presents the application of Taguchi design of experiment and Autodesk Moldflow® simulation in finding the optimal processing parameters for the manufacturing of natural fiber–polymer composite products. The material used in the study is a composite of recycled thermoplastic reinforced with 10% wood fibers. For the study, four critical processing parameters, namely compression time, mold temperature, melt temperate, and pressure, were selected for optimization. Process analysis was carried out in Moldflow® utilizing a combination of process parameters based on an L9 orthogonal array. Later, the warpage output from Moldflow® simulation was converted into a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio response, and the optimum values of each processing parameter were obtained using the smaller-the-better quality characteristic. The results show that the optimum values were 60 °C, 40 s, 210 °C, and 600 kN for the mold temperature, compression time, melt temperature, and pressure, respectively. Afterward, a confirmation test was performed to test the optimum parameters. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA), melt temperature was found to be the most significant processing parameter, followed by mold temperature, compression time, and pressure.

Highlights

natural fiber–polymer composite (NFPC) are not limited to basic household and construction applications; they are rapidly gaining a market share in various other engineering fields, such as automotive, electronic, and aerospace applications [1]
The polymer waste was crushed in a granulator, and material properties testing was performed later in the laboratory. Material properties such as melt density, solid density, mechanical properties, and melt flow rate were calculated, and the values were added to the Moldflow® Insight material database
Thermal properties were taken from a generic ABS material present in the Moldflow® material database

Summary

Introduction

NFPCs are not limited to basic household and construction applications; they are rapidly gaining a market share in various other engineering fields, such as automotive, electronic, and aerospace applications [1]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion