THE USE OF THE TAGUCHI METHOD IN DETERMINING THE OPTIMUM PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDING PARAMETERS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A CONSUMER PRODUCT

In this study, the Taguchi method is used to find the optimal process parameters for an injection moulding machine that was used to produce a consumer product (plastic tray) from polypropylene (PP) plastic material. An orthogonal array (OA), main effect, signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the bending characteristics of the tray under a constant load. Through this study, not only can the optimal process parameters for injection moulding process be obtained, but also the main process parameters that affect the bending performance of the tray can be found. Experimental results are provided to confirm the effectiveness of this approach.

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