Feasibility assessment of injection molding online monitoring based on oil pressure/nozzle pressure/cavity pressure

Abstract

Abstract This study produced a box-like product through injection molding, and pressure sensors were installed at the nozzle in the injection molding machine and mold cavity. Injection molding experiments were conducted with various process parameters to understand the correlations between the pressure of the cavity, nozzle, and oil pump. A high correlation (R > 0.95) between oil pressure and nozzle pressure could be found in the study. The oil pressure in the injection molding machine could fully describe the pressure variation of the molten plastic at the nozzle. However, the correlation between nozzle pressure and cavity pressure was slightly reduced due to changes in injection speed, melting temperature, and packing time. Thus, a suitable molding window can improve the correlation between oil pressure, nozzle pressure, and cavity pressure. This study provides a correlation between the three pressures and a reference for the future selection of process variables, an essential pretreatment for online monitoring.