Abstract
The aim of the paper consisted in the development of an injection mold for plastic horn cover parts in commercial vehicles. Three mold types were designed in anticipation of the structure and quality of molds, and injection molding numerical analyses were conducted for the three types of molds. One mold type was selected in consideration of the resin flow patterns inside the mold, surface quality, and final deflection amount of the horn cover. To perform optimal injection molding using the selected mold, optimization of injection molding parameters was performed using the Taguchi method, one of the designs of experiment (DOE) and ANOVA methods. As a result, it was confirmed that the deflection amount of the molding under optimal molding parameters decreased by about 34.3% compared to the deflection amount before optimization of the molding parameters. Based on these encouraging results, the previously selected mold type was actually manufactured. The horn cover was molded using the obtained optimal injection molding parameters to the manufactured mold. To verify the precision of the molded horn cover, the deflection amount of the molding was measured with a 3D scanner. The deflection amount of the horn cover was estimated to be about 11% to 43% larger for each measurement position than the deflection amounts in the analysis results. The manufactured mold was revised to solve the problem that the deflection amount of the actual molding is larger than the deflection amount predicted by injection molding analysis. The dimensions and surface quality of the horn cover with a revised mold were satisfactory.
Highlights
Among the various manufacturing methods, injection molding using plastic material has the advantage of making even complex shapes into a one-time process
A factor that hinders applying plastic injection molding to more areas is that, compared to other production methods, it is quite difficult to obtain dimensional precision of plastic molding product dimensions in a short time because, for precise injection molding, various injection parameters must be adequately harmonized
Assuming that accurate design and fabrication of the mold have been carried out, the optimization of various injection molding parameters is essential for optimal injection molding
Summary
Among the various manufacturing methods, injection molding using plastic material has the advantage of making even complex shapes into a one-time process. It is specialized for the mass production of products with the identical shape and dimensions and is actively used in our daily lives and the industrial sector [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Optimal injection molding requires correct plastic materials, accurate mold design and fabrication, and accurate control of injection molding parameters. The use of more scientific techniques to determine the appropriate processing parameters is urgently required [7]
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