Mathematical Modeling and Fuzzy Analysis of Hot Runner in Comparison to Cold Runner in Injection Moulding

Abstract

In a mass production environment of supply chains where volume of production runs into millions of parts per month where even the slight improvement in the manufacturing process through cycle time reduction or better material utilization has the potential to produce huge savings and productivity to match customer tact time, the paper serves a useful insight into appropriate tooling technology for moulding processes. Though there have been several studies on hot runner technology in injection molding processes vis a vis conventional cold runner technology, ultimate manufacturer still has to conduct trials and calculate ROIs, initial investment, quality and maintainability aspect to conclude if the manufacturer can go for hot runner or not. The paper lends a scientific expression to this decision making problem and offers a mathematical model with variables like Gross weight to Net Weight ratio, machine tonnage, volume involved. The user only has to put in the values to get an index value with a threshold number to decide if hot runner is viable for the component in hand or not.