Optimum process conditions on shrinkage of an injected-molded part of DVD-ROM cover using Taguchi robust method

Plastic injection molding is an important process to produce thin-shell parts. However, the difficulty in adjusting optimum process conditions may cause defects of the injected-molded parts such as shrinkage. This study investigates on the optimum combinations of process conditions on shrinkage of an injected-molded part of the DVD-ROM cover based on Taguchi method. In doing this, a series of Moldflow analyses have been performed as per L27 orthogonal array design with each analysis by means of the process conditions of mold temperature, melt temperature, injection pressure, injection time, and cooling time. In the meantime, signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio is utilized to determine the optimum combinations of the process conditions for shrinkage through analysis of variance (ANOVA). ANOVA is further used to find which of the process conditions are statistically significant. Finally, confirmation tests at the optimum combinations of the process conditions were executed to verify the robustness and the effectiveness of Taguchi method within 95% confidence interval. From the findings, it can be stated that Taguchi method is a powerful tool for evaluating the defect of shrinkage in the plastic injection molding.