Pertanika J. Sci. & Techno!. Supplement 12(2): 85 - 99 (2004) ISSN: 0128-7680 © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Design and Simulation of Plastic Injection Moulding Process Wong, C. T., Shamsuddin Sulaiman, Napsiah Ismail & A.M.S. Hamouda Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia E-mails:choontat@tm.net.my.suddin@eng.upm.edu.my.napsiah@eng.upm.edu.my. hamouda@eng.upm.edu. my ABSTRAK Kertas ini membentangkan proses reka bentuk satu acuan suntikan plastik untuk menghasilkan satu produk. Ia dibahagikan kepada tiga bahagian iaitu: bahagian reka bentuk, bahagian simulasi dan bahagian analisa. Plastik produk ini direka bentuk kepada dua bentuk yang berlainan tetapi mempunyai fungsi yang sama iaitu satu produk menggunakan fungsi klip dan satu produk lagi menggunakan fungsi lekat. Untuk Reka Bentuk Terbantu Komputer (CAD), perisian komputer yang digunakan untuk meraka bentuk produk dalam 3 dimensi (3D) dan acuan ialah Pro/Engineer (Pro/E). Dua plastik produk yang berlainan akan direka bentuk dalam inse:rt yang boleh ditukar-tukar di dalam satu acuan untuk menghasilkan dua produk yang berlainan. Untuk Pembuatan Terbantu Komputer (CAM), Pro/Manufacturing (Pro/MFG) daripada perisian komputer ProlE digunakan untuk menjanakan beberapa kod kawalan berangka untuk proses pemesinan. Analisis terhadap pengaliran cecair plastik dijalankan dengan menggunakan perisian (MoldFIow - Part Advisor version 4). Daripada anal isis ini kedudukan tempat suntikan, suhu bahan dan tekanan suntikan dapat ditentukan. Jangkaan kecacatan produk seperti weld lines dan udara terperangkap juga ditemui dan dianalisis. ABSTRACf This paper presents the design of plastic injection mould for producing a plastic product. The plastic part was designed into two different types of product, but in the same usage function. One part is using clip function and another part is using tick function. In the computer-aided design (CAD), two plastic parts were drawn in 3 dimension (3D) view by using Pro-Engineer (Pro-E) parametric software. In the computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), Pro-Manufacturing from Pro-E parametric software was used to develop the machining program. For mould design, the product was designed into two changeable inserts to produce two different types of plastic product in one mould base. Before proceeding to injection machine and mould design, this part was analysed and simulated by using Mold Flow or Part Advisor software. From the analysis and simulation we can define the most suitable injection location, material temperature and pressure for injection. The predicted weld lines and air trap were also found and analysed. Keywords: Changeable insert mould, injection pressure, air traps, injection location, mould design INTRODUCTION Nowadays, the technology of the tool and die fabrication in plastic injection is one of the world's fastest growing industries. Plastic is now used in almost every application, ranging from household articles to space travel, from transportation to packing, from medicine to toys, from bridge building to sports. Generally, injection moulding is a process that forms the plastic into a desired shape by melting the plastic material and forcing the plastic material under pressure into the mould cavity. The shape of the plastic that is desired is achieved by cooling in thermoplastic or by chemical reaction for thermosetting. Mould design and fabrication is a costly and high technology process because it uses science-based computer-aided engineering (CAE) software to analyse and simulate the