It is quite challenging to control both quality and productivity of products produced using injection molding process. Although many previous researchers have used different types of optimisation approaches to obtain the best configuration of parameters setting to control the quality of the molded part, optimisation approaches in maximising the performance of cooling channels to enhance the process productivity by decreasing the mould cycle time remain lacking. In this study, optimisation approaches namely Response Surface Methodology (RSM), Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Glowworm Swarm Optimisation (GSO) were employed on front panel housing moulded using Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). Each optimisation method was analysed for both straight drilled and Milled Groove Square Shape (MGSS) conformal cooling channel moulds. Results from experimental works showed that, the performance of MGSS conformal cooling channels could be enhanced by employing the optimisation approach. Therefore, this research provides useful scientific knowledge and an alternative solution for the plastic injection moulding industry to improve the quality of moulded parts in terms of deformation using the proposed optimisation approaches in the used of conformal cooling channels mould.

This study presents the application of optimisation method to reduce the warpage of side arm part. Autodesk Moldflow Insight software was integrated into this study to analyse the warpage. The design of Experiment (DOE) for Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was constructed and by using the equation from RSM, Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) was applied. The optimisation method will result in optimised processing parameters with minimum warpage. Mould temperature, melt temperature, packing pressure, packing time and cooling time was selected as the variable parameters. Parameters selection was based on most significant factor affecting warpage stated by previous researchers. The results show that warpage was improved by 28.16% for RSM and 28.17% for PSO. The warpage improvement in PSO from RSM is only by 0.01 %. Thus, the optimisation using RSM is already efficient to give the best combination parameters and optimum warpage value for side arm part. The most significant parameters affecting warpage are packing pressure.

Achieving good quality of products from plastic injection moulding processes is very challenging, since the process comprises many affecting parameters. Common defects such as warpage are hard to avoid, and the defective parts will eventually go to waste, leading to unnecessary costs to the manufacturer. The use of recycled material from postindustrial waste has been studied by a few researchers. However, the application of an optimisation method by which to optimise processing parameters to mould parts using recycled materials remains lacking. In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) methods were conducted on thick plate parts moulded using virgin and recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) materials (100:0, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50; virgin to recycle material ratios) to find the optimal input parameters for each of the material ratios. Shrinkage in the x and y directions increased in correlation with the recycled ratio, compared to virgin material. Meanwhile, the tensile strength of the thick plate part continued to decrease when the recycled ratio increased. R30 (70:30) had the optimum shrinkage in the x direction with respect to R0 (100:0) material where the shrinkage increased by 24.49% (RSM) and 33.20% (PSO). On the other hand, the shrinkage in the y direction for R30 material increased by 4.48% (RSM) and decreased by 2.67% (PSO), while the tensile strength of R30 (70:30) material decreased by 0.51% (RSM) and 2.68% (PSO) as compared to R0 (100:0) material. Validation tests indicated that the optimal setting of processing parameter suggested by PSO and RSM for R0 (100:0), R30 (70:30), R40 (60:40) and R50 (50:50) was less than 10%.

Geopolymer is a new material that begins to become a phenomenon especially in the industrial sector. Based on the results of the previous study, the use of geopolymer has been widely applied in the cement and concrete sectors. This is because the ability of geopolymer can dry at ambient temperature and within a short period of time. In contrast, its machinable properties particularly concerning tool wear analysis of geopolymer have not been reported. So, this research is carried out to identify the relationship between compressive with tool wear of cutting tool, the best parameter settings of machining geopolymer material concerning tool wear and identify the most significant parameters with responding to tool wear using Taguchi method. Twenty two samples of geopolymer were prepared to undergo compressive tests and lathe operations to obtain the results. The sample is prepared with two shapes which are cube and cylinder shape. Material are mixed based on quantity that has been decided. The result obtained from this research will indicate whether fly ash geopolymer is machinable. In order to identify the best parameter combination and significant parameter that influenced machining of geopolymer, Taguchi method as optimization method is used. Taguchi The results shows that the most significant parameter that influenced machining on geopolymers are feed rate and followed by cutting speed whereas depth of cut only gives a little effect. The best combination parameter has also been suggested by the experiments. The result gathered from this research will be useful to expand the use of geopolymer in the industrial sector, especially in machining.

The quality of plastic products depends on how its looks, whether it follows the intended design or not. Shrinkage and warpage are some of the main defects on the moulded parts produced in the injection moulding process due to the difficulty in adjusting the optimum set of parameter. This study was conducted to determine the optimal injection moulding parameters for minimizing shrinkage and warpage value on front panel housing part. The parameters selected for this study are melt temperature, mould temperature, packing pressure and cooling time. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) of analysis was applied to determine the best set of parameters and the significant factor(s) of the shrinkage and warpage were determined from analysis of variance (ANOVA). The input for this study was obtained through simulation.