The Effect of Processing Condition towards the Quality of Snap Fit Samples Using Taguchi Method

Abstract

The objective of this research is to explore the effects of parameter settings towards the quality of thermoplastics snap fit samples through practical injection moulding. The selected parameters in this experiment were barrel temperature, holding pressure, injection velocity and injection holding. The material selected for this project is polypropylene. The quality of samples was gained by measuring the value of shrinkage and warpage. The design of experiment shall implement Taguchi Method L93 4 Orthogonal Array. Signal to Noise Ratio shall be calculated to define the best combination of parameter settings for each formulation. Analysis of Variance shall be used to define the most influential factor that contributes towards the quality of samples. Based on the results, the optimum parameters to control warpage and shrinkage have been rectified. The most influential factor, that affecting warpage is holding pressure with 33.68% of the contribution. In the other hand, injection holding with 44.25% of contribution, need to be closely monitored if the manufacturer needs to control shrinkage. The findings of this project shall be good enough to be used as reference in producing similar product in future. 