Optimum Gate Design of FreeForm Injection Mould using the Abductive Network

This study uses the injection position and size of the gate as the major control parameters for a simulated injection-mould. Once the injection parameters (gate size and gate position) are given, the product performance (deformation) can be accurately predicted by the abductive network developed. To avoid the numerous influencing factors, first the part-line of the parameter equation is created by an abductive network to limit the range of the gate. The optimal injection parameters can be searched for by a simulation annealing (SA) optimisation algorithm, with a performance index, to obtain a perfect part. The major purpose is searching for the optimal gate location on the part-surface, and minimising the air-trap and deformation after part formation. This study also uses a practical example which has been and proved by experiment to achieve a satisfactory result.