The use of the Taguchi approach to determine the influence of injection-moulding parameters on the properties of green parts

Purpose: The paper is focused on the influence of injection moulding parameters on the properties of green parts in powder injection moulding. Because of the nature of this technology all the technological phases must be mastered. Design/methodology/approach: For the design of experiments (DOE) we used the Taguchi approach and the results were analysed with the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings: As is presented in the paper the injection moulding parameters have big influence on weight and dimensions of the green parts. The mould temperature, material temperature and holding pressure are the parameters which influence the dimensions most. The influence of cycle time has to be examined in further experiments. Research limitations/implications: It would also be advisable to conduct additional research on all the influential factors and their interaction. The factors would appear on three or more levels, which would make it possible to show the non-linear dependence of the output, and to optimize the process itself. Practical implications: The optimisation of injection moulding parameters gives better tolerances of both, the green parts and the sintered parts. Originality/value: Not much research work has been done to examine the influence of injection moulding parameters in PIM. With these experiments we upgraded our existing knowledge about the influence of the injection-moulding parameters on the dimensional accuracy of the green part, made from stainless steel 316L, and thus contributed to improving the process’s reliability.