Application of digital simulation tool in designing of injection mold for sustainable manufacturing

Abstract

Gate location (GL) is one of the most important criteria in the injection molding technology to produce a good quality product. The best GL will bring many benefits to the manufacturing process such as reducing cycle time, minimizing defects of the product, and decreasing capital cost. In this study, an automatic gate location analysis tool (AGLA) is introduced to investigate the best gate location for designing the injection mold. EasyFill Advanced software was used to conduct experiments on analyzing the filling process of melting plastic material into the mold cavity. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is the polymer material that is used in the study to produce the plastic product. The gate locations are located in different positions to analyze the product characteristics that will occur during the injection molding process such as weld lines, short shot, warpage, shrinkage, and air traps. Three simulation cases were set up and conducted including case 1 with the suggestion from EasyFill software, case 2 with the gate location located on the middle point of the long edge side, and case 3 with the gate location located on the middle point of the short edge side. The warpage defects are recorded with a minimum value of 0.464 mm belonging to case 1 smaller than that of 0.481 mm in case 2 and 0.482 mm in case 3, respectively. The method is a good solution for engineers in designing and developing a new mold for injection molding manufacturing