英文原文CONCURRENTDESIGNOFPLASTICSINJECTIONMOULDSAssist.Prof.Dr.A.YAYLA/Prof.Dr.PaaYAYLAAbstractTheplasticproductmanufacturingindustryhasbeengrowingrapidlyinrecentyears.Oneofthemostpopularprocessesformakingplasticpartsisinjectionmoulding.Thedesignofinjectionmouldiscriticallyimportanttoproductqualityandefficientproductprocessing.Mould-makingcompanies,whowishtomaintainthecompetitiveedge,desiretoshortenbothdesignandmanufacturingleadingtimesofthebyapplyingasystematicmoulddesignprocess.Themouldindustryisanimportantsupportindustryduringtheproductdevelopmentprocess,servingasanimportantlinkbetweentheproductdesignerandmanufacturer.Productdevelopmenthaschangedfromthetraditionalserialprocessofdesign,followedbymanufacture,toamoreorganizedconcurrentprocesswheredesignandmanufactureareconsideredataveryearlystageofdesign.Theconceptofconcurrentengineering(CE)isnolongernewandyetitisstillapplicableandrelevantintodaysmanufacturingenvironment.Teamworkingspirit,managementinvolvement,totaldesignprocessandintegrationofITtoolsarestilltheessenceofCE.TheapplicationofTheCEprocesstothedesignofaninjectionprocessinvolvesthesimultaneousconsiderationofplasticpartdesign,moulddesignandinjectionmouldingmachineselection,productionschedulingandcostasearlyaspossibleinthedesignstagThispaperpresentsthebasicstructureofaninjectionmoulddesign.Thebasisofthissystemarisesfromananalysisoftheinjectionmoulddesignprocessformoulddesigncompanies.Thisinjectionmoulddesignsystemcoversboththemoulddesignprocessandmouldknowledgemanagement.Finallytheprincipleofconcurrentengineeringprocessisoutlinedandthenitsprincipleisappliedtothedesignofaplasticinjectionmould.Keywords:Plasticinjectionmoulddesign,Concurrentengineering,Computeraidedengineering,Mouldingconditions,Plasticinjectionmoulding,Flowsimulation1.IntroductioInjectionmouldsarealwaysexpensivetomake,unfortunatelywithoutamoulditcannotbepossiblehohaveamouldedproduct.Everymouldmakerhashis/herownapproachtodesignamouldandtherearemanydifferentwaysofdesigningandbuildingamould.Surelyoneofthemostcriticalparameterstobeconsideredinthedesignstageofthemouldisthenumberofcavities,methodsofinjection,typesofrunners,methodsofgating,methodsofejection,capacityandfeaturesoftheinjectionmouldingmachines.Mouldcost,mouldqualityandcostofmouldproductareinseparableIntodayscompletiveenvironment,computeraidedmouldfillingsimulationpackagescanaccuratelypredictthefillpatternsofanypart.Thisallowsforquicksimulationsofgateplacementsandhelpsfindingtheoptimallocation.Engineerscanperformmouldingtrialsonthecomputerbeforethepartdesigniscompleted.Processengineerscansystematicallypredictadesignandprocesswindow,andcanobtaininformationaboutthecumulativeeffectoftheprocessvariablesthatinfluencepartperformance,cost,andappearance.2.InjectionMouldingInjectionmouldingisoneofthemosteffectivewaystobringoutthebestinplastics.Itisuniversallyusedtomakecomplex,finishedparts,ofteninasinglestep,economically,preciselyandwithlittlewaste.Massproductionofplasticpartsmostlyutilizesmoulds.Themanufacturingprocessandinvolvingmouldsmustbedesignedafterpassingthroughtheappearanceevaluationandthestructureoptimizationoftheproductdesign.Designersfaceahugenumberofoptionswhentheycreateinjection-mouldedcomponents.Concurrentengineeringrequiresanengineertoconsiderthemanufacturingprocessofthedesignedproductinthedevelopmentphase.Agooddesignoftheproductisunabletogotothemarketifitsmanufacturingprocessisimpossibleortooexpensive.Integrationofprocesssimulation,rapidprototypingandmanufacturingcanreducetheriskassociatedwithmovingfromCADtoCAMandfurtherenhancethevalidityoftheproductdevelopment.3.ImportanceofComputerAidedInjectionMouldDesignTheinjectionmouldingdesigntaskcanbehighlycomplex.ComputerAidedEngineering(CAE)analysistoolsprovideenormousadvantagesofenablingdesignengineerstoconsidervirtuallyandpart,mouldandinjectionparameterswithouttherealuseofanymanufacturingandtime.Thepossibilityoftryingalternativedesignsorconceptsonthecomputerscreengivestheengineerstheopportunitytoeliminatepotentialproblemsbeforebeginningtherealproduction.Moreover,invirtualenvironment,designerscanquicklyandeasilyassesthesensitivityofspecificmouldingparametersonthequalityandmanufacturabilityofthefinalproduct.AlltheseCAEtoolsenablealltheseanalysistobecompletedinameterofdaysorevenhours,ratherthanweeksormonthsneededfortherealexperimentaltrialanderrorcycles.AsCAEisusedintheearlydesignofpart,mouldandmouldingparameters,thecostsavingsaresubstantialnotonlybecauseofbestfunctioningpartandtimesavingsbutalsotheshortensthetimeneededtolaunchtheproducttothemarket.Theneedtomeetsettolerancesofplasticparttiesintoallaspectsofthemouldingprocess,includingpartsizeandshape,resinchemicalstructure,thefillersused,mouldcavitylayout,gating,mouldcoolingandthereleasemechanismsused.Giventhiscomplexity,designersoftenusecomputerdesigntools,suchasfiniteelementanalysis(FEA)andmouldfillinganalysis(MFA),toreducedevelopmenttimeandcost.FEAdeterminesstrain,stressanddeflectioninapartbydividingthestructureintosmallelementswheretheseparameterscanbewelldefined.MFAevaluatesgatepositionandsizetooptimizeresinflow.Italsodefinesplacementofweldlines,areasofexcessivestress,andhowwallandribthicknessaffectflow.Otherfiniteelementdesigntoolsincludemouldcoolinganalysisfortemperaturedistribution,andcycletimeandshrinkageanalysisfordimensionalcontrolandpredictionoffrozenstressandwarpage.TheCAEanalysisofcompressionmouldedpartsisshowninFigure1.TheanalysiscyclestartswiththecreationofaCADmodelandafiniteelementmeshofthemouldcavity.Aftertheinjectionconditionsarespecified,mouldfilling,fiberorientation,curingandthermalhistory,shrinkageandwarpagecanbesimulated.Thematerialpropertiescalculatedbythesimulationcanbeusedtomodelthestructuralbehaviourofthepart.Ifrequired,partdesign,gatelocationandprocessingconditionscanbemodifiedinthecomputeruntilanacceptablepartisobtained.Aftertheanalysisisfinishedanoptimizedpartcanbeproducedwithreducedweldline(knownalsoknitline),optimizedstrength,controlledtemperaturesandcuring,minimizedshrinkageandwarpage.Machiningofthemouldswasformerlydonemanually,withatoolmakercheckingeachcut.ThisprocessbecamemoreautomatedwiththegrowthandwidespreaduseofcomputernumericallycontrolledorCNCmachiningcentres.SetuptimehasalsobeensignificantlyreducedthroughtheuseofspecialsoftwarecapableofgeneratingcutterpathsdirectlyfromaCADdatafile.Spindlespeedsashighas100,000rpmprovidefurtheradvancesinhighspeedmachining.Cuttingmaterialshavedemonstratedphenomenalperformancewithouttheuseofanycutting/coolantfluidwhatsoever.Asaresult,theprocessofmachiningcomplexcoresandcavitieshasbeenaccelerated.Itisgoodnewsthatthetimeittakestogenerateamouldisconstantlybeingreduced.Thebadnews,ontheotherhand,isthatevenwithalltheseadvances,designingandmanufacturingofthemouldcanstilltakealongtimeandcanbeextremelyexpensive.Figure1CAEanalysisofinjectionmouldedpartsManycompanyexecutivesnowrealizehowvitalitistodeploynewproductstomarketrapidly.Newproductsarethekeytocorporatepros