A nondestructive online method for monitoring the injection molding process by collecting and analyzing machine running data

Nondestructive online monitoring of injection molding processes is of great importance. However, almost all prior research has focused on monitoring polymers in molds and damaging the molds. Injection molding machines are the most important type of equipment for producing polymeric products, and abundant information about actual polymer processing conditions can be obtained from data collected from operating machines. In this paper, we propose a nondestructive online method for monitoring injection molding processes by collecting and analyzing signals from injection molding machines. Electrical sensors installed in the injection molding machine, not in the mold, are used to collect physical signals. A multimedia timer technique and a multithread method are adopted for real-time large-capacity data collection. An algorithm automatically identifies the different stages of the molding process for signal analysis. Moreover, ultrasonic monitoring technology is integrated to measure the cavity pressures. Experimental results show that our nondestructive method can continuously monitor the injection molding process in real time and automatically identify the different stages of the molding process. The packing parameters, including the filling-to-packing switchover point and the packing time, can be optimized based on these data. Furthermore, the ultrasonic reflection coefficient and the actual cavity pressure have similar trends, and our technique for measuring the cavity pressure is accurate and effective.     

超薄塑件注塑成形特性的试验研究与数值模拟

薄壁注塑成形技术具有节约材料、降低成本、减少制品重量和外形尺寸等优点,可促进移动电话等电子产品的迅速发展,特别是超薄塑件的注塑成形技术在微机电领域具有巨大的应用潜力。但随着制品厚度的减小也使注射成形难度加大,填充过程更为复杂,成形特性有待探索。设计制造出可成形超薄塑件的模具,利用正交试验方法(田口方法)进行充模试验和数值模拟技术研究各工艺参数(注射速度、注射压力、熔体温度、注射量和制品厚度等)对超薄塑件注塑成形充模过程的影响。研究结果表明,制品厚度对超薄塑件的填充起决定性作用;注射量及注射速度对超薄塑件注塑成形的填充起主导作用,提高注射速度能大幅度地提高填充率;熔体温度和注射压力相对于注射量和注射速度只起次要作用,但在填充过程中,高的熔体温度和注射压力也是必要的。     

超声外场对微通道中熔体黏性耗散效应的影响

针对聚合物熔体在微尺度通道中流动时的黏性耗散效应对其流动行为的影响,通过自行构建的带有温度传感器和超声振子的微注塑成型试验系统,采用单因素成型试验方法,对聚丙烯(Polypropylene, PP)和高密度聚乙烯(High-density polyethylene, HDPE)两种聚合物材料在不同工艺参数和超声外场作用下,流经矩形截面微通道时由黏性耗散效应引起的通道出口熔体温升进行试验测量。结果表明,微通道中熔体的黏性耗散效应随注射速度的增加而增强,随入口熔体温度和模具温度的升高而减弱;与不加超声振动相比,施加超声振动使两种材料的微通道出口熔体温升值明显升高;但材料自身的微观分子结构及其热物理性能不同,其温升增幅差别较大。试验注射速度下,施加超声振动比不加超声振动时的PP熔体温升增幅高出34.7%,而HDPE熔体的温升增幅则高达71.7%。当超声频率和工艺参数一定时,增大超声功率使PP熔体的微通道出口温升增加了24.8%,HDPE熔体的温升增加了83.6%。可见施加超声外场作用能使微通道中聚合物熔体的黏性耗散效应明显增强。     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation for plastic injection-compression molding

Compared with conventional injection molding, injection-compression molding can mold optical parts with higher precision and lower flow residual stress. However, the melt flow process in a closed cavity becomes more complex because of the moving cavity boundary during compression and the nonlinear problems caused by non-Newtonian polymer melt. In this study, a 3D simulation method was developed for injection-compression molding. In this method, arbitrary Lagrangian- Eulerian was introduced to model the moving-boundary flow problem in the compression stage. The non-Newtonian characteristics and compressibility of the polymer melt were considered. The melt flow and pressure distribution in the cavity were investigated by using the proposed simulation method and compared with those of injection molding. Results reveal that the fountain flow effect becomes significant when the cavity thickness increases during compression. The back flow also plays an important role in the flow pattern and redistribution of cavity pressure. The discrepancy in pressures at different points along the flow path is complicated rather than monotonically decreased in injection molding.     

Optimization of injection molding process parameters using integrated artificial neural network model and expected improvement function method

In this study, an adaptive optimization method based on artificial neural network model is proposed to optimize the injection molding process. The optimization process aims at minimizing the warpage of the injection molding parts in which process parameters are design variables. Moldflow Plastic Insight software is used to analyze the warpage of the injection molding parts. The mold temperature, melt temperature, injection time, packing pressure, packing time, and cooling time are regarded as process parameters. A combination of artificial neural network and design of experiment (DOE) method is used to build an approximate function relationship between warpage and the process parameters, replacing the expensive simulation analysis in the optimization iterations. The adaptive process is implemented by expected improvement which is an infilling sampling criterion. Although the DOE size is small, this criterion can balance local and global search and tend to the global optimal solution. As examples, a cellular phone cover and a scanner are investigated. The results show that the proposed adaptive optimization method can effectively reduce the warpage of the injection molding parts.     

薄壁塑件注塑成形特性的试验研究

设计制造了一可成形薄壁塑件的模具,利用正交试验方法(田口方法)进行充模试验,研究各工艺参数(注射速度、注射压力、熔体温度、注射量和模具温度等)对薄壁塑件注塑成形充模过程的影响。研究结果表明:模具温度对薄壁塑件的填充起决定性作用,注射压力和注射量是影响薄壁塑件成形的重要工艺参数,注射速度与熔体温度之间的交互作用对薄壁塑件成形的影响显著。     

Development of an in-process Pokayoke system utilizing accelerometer and logistic regression modeling for monitoring injection molding flash

Today, using recycled materials is a common practice in plastic industries for the sake of saving material cost and pursuing sustainable manufacturing. The recycled materials may have some properties (for example, fluidity and viscosity) significantly different from the primary plastic resin, which may lead to quality problems. An in-process Pokayoke system was developed in this research to monitor injection molding parts’ flash caused by adding a foreign polymer in the lab test, which was used to simulate the recycled plastic. The proposed system employed an accelerometer to capture the injection molding vibration signals. The featured injection molding vibration signals were identified through data analyses, and they were then used as input variables through logistic modeling to predict flash in an injection molding process that utilizes pure polystyrene (PS) mixed with a small portion of low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The testing results indicated that this Pokayoke system could monitor the injection molding flash status caused by the mixed material with approximately 95 % accuracy while the injection molding is in process. This Pokayoke system can help the injection molding machine take immediate actions to avoid wastes caused by flash.     

超声波传输时间精密测量方法及应用研究

根据超声波回波信号是一个变幅周期性信号这一特点,提出一种用数字细分来精密测量超声波传输时间的方法,阐明了超声波换能器驱动电路原理及利用FPGA电路和高分辨率A/D电路通过高频采样来实现这一方法的原理,并采用该方法和电路设计了超声波流量计。指出超声波传输时间测量的分辨率取决于超声波信号的频率和A/D电路的分辨率,为保证测量精度,应尽可能采用较高的采样频率。超声波传输时间的测量综合了全部回波信号采样数据,有很好的可靠性和很强的抗干扰能力。     

应用微分算法处理特种管道测厚激光超声信号

为了实现特种管道在高温、高压、辐射等特殊环境下管壁厚度的非均匀性检测,提出一种基于微分算法的管道壁厚激光超声测量及特征信号处理方法。采用脉冲激光激励和激光干涉探测的激光超声方法,实验测得管道试件的宽频带激光超声信号。采用数字平均算法对宽带激光超声信号进行去噪处理,提高原始激光超声信号的信噪比。采用微分算法对激光超声信号进行特征提取处理,得到表征管壁厚度的激光超声特征信号。根据管道材料声速和激光超声传播时间反演计算得到管道试件的壁厚值,管壁厚度测量值与实际值的误差小于5%。研究表明,基于微分算法的管道壁厚激光超声测量及特征信号处理方法具有良好的信噪比、准确的信号特征量和较高的测量精度,可用于管道壁厚的在线实时检测以及因腐蚀、应力引起的管道壁厚不均匀性检测。     

新型嵌入式超声波测距系统

为了增大超声波发射功率和准确接收回波信号,在分析超声波测距误差原因和考虑软、硬件成本的基础上,提出了一种以C8051F320微控制器、反激变换器和专用集成电路PW0268为核心器件的超声波测距系统及其硬件和软件的设计方法。系统中还集成了声速的温度补偿、串行输出和LCD显示等功能,能实时修正超声速度和显示测量值。实验结果表明,该超声波测距系统具有测量数据准确,线性度高、重复性好、迟滞小、成本低等优点,可广泛应用于工业中非接触测距场所。     

基于Taguchi试验设计的储箱箱盖注射工艺参数研究

注射成型受众多因素影响,在制件结构和模具结构确定的条件下,通过合理的注射工艺参数,可消除或减少塑件成型中出现的缺陷。针对某企业在试生产一种储物箱箱盖时产生翘曲变形的问题,采用Taguchi试验方法,应用Moldflow对注射过程进行模拟,获得了塑件在熔料温度、模具温度、注射时间和保压压力四因素三水平下成型的翘曲变形量。采用极差分析,比较了不同工艺参数对翘曲变形量的影响程度,得到了优化的工艺参数组合。经试验验证,其效果良好,产品的翘曲变形得到了一定的改善。     

某车型下进气格栅注塑模变形分析及实验研究

以某车型下进气格栅为研究对象,以保压压力、熔体温度和注射时间为注塑工艺参数,确定综合翘曲变形值为实验测量指标。用直观分析法、方差分析法分析注塑工艺参数对翘曲变形影响,判断各因素之间的交互作用对指标的显著影响,获得优化的注塑工艺参数组。通过Moldflow软件对下进气格栅进行变形分析,检验工艺参数是否合理。此研究为进气格栅设计与制造研究提供理论依据,具有重要的实际意义。     

Noise suppression and flaw detection of ultrasonic signals via empirical mode decomposition

In ultrasonic nondestructive testing, the precise detection of flaw echoes buried in backscattering noise caused by highly scattering materials is a problem of great importance. In this paper, a new signal decomposition method for analyzing nonstationary or nonlinear data, empirical mode decomposition, is proposed to deal with ultrasonic signals. A new denoising technique that combines empirical mode decomposition and filtering simultaneously in the time domain and frequency domain is designed to suppress noise and enhance flaw signals. Synthetic and experimental signals are denoised with this EMD-based filtering technique. Simulated results are presented and analyzed, showing that the proposed technique has an excellent performance even when the signal-to-noise ratio is very low (−23 dB). The improvement in flaw detection was experimentally verified on a pipeline sample with artificial flaws. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

铝镁合金熔体氢含量快速定量检测技术研究进展

铝镁合金铸件极易产生针孔、显微缩松等缺陷,氢的存在是产生这些缺陷的主要原因。铝镁合金熔体中含氢量检测是铝镁合金熔体除气效果以及铝镁合金熔体质量是否合格的重要检验手段,对提高铸件质量具有非常重要的意义。随着铝镁合金应用范围和用量的日益增加,冶金和铸造工作者对铝镁合金熔体含氢量定量快速检测技术的发展愈加关注。从铝镁合金熔体含氢量定量测试原理和基于这些原理开发的测试仪器的特点出发,对当前比较流行的几种铝镁合金熔体含氢量定量快速检测技术进行比较、分析和评价,包括以Sievert定律为基础的惰性气体循环法、电化学法和吸气测压法以及以声发射原理为基础的测氢方法,在此基础上指出今后以提高测试速度和降低测试成本为主攻方向的铝镁合金熔体定量快速检测技术具有广阔的发展前景。     

A study on compound contents for plastic injection molding products of metallic resin pigment

Injection molding process is widely used for producing most plastic products. In order to make a metal-colored plastic product especially in modern luxury home alliances, metallic pigments which are mixed to a basic resin material for injection molding are available. However, the process control for the metal-colored plastic product is extremely difficult due to non-uniform melt flow of the metallic resin pigments. To improve the process efficiency, a rapid mold cooling method by a compressed cryogenic fluid and electricity mold are also proposed to decrease undesired compound contents within a molded plastic product. In this study, a quality of the metal-colored plastic product is evaluated with process parameters; injection speed, injection pressure, and pigment contents, and an influence of the rapid cooling and heating system is demonstrated.

     

基于高频柱面超声导波的螺栓轴向应力测量

基于金属杆件中高频超声导波的传播特性,提出使用柱面导波高阶不同模态群速度比值的单探头螺栓轴向应力测量方法。使用数值方法求解考虑晶粒散射衰减的Pochhammer-Chree方程,得到了导波群速度衰减系数频散曲线,并分析了其在高频区的传播规律。结合非线性声学以及弹性力学理论,推出基于群速度比值的螺栓轴向应力测量方法。搭建超声应力测量平台,讨论了脉冲超声激励下的实测导波信号特点并提出使用经验小波算法对信号进行模态分解,有效获取了信号中特定模态的群速度。使用该方法以及传统的纵横波声时比法进行了螺栓轴向应力对比标定和测量实验,结果表明前者平均测量误差约为4%,其精度明显高于传统方法(平均测量误差6%)且具有更简便的测量流程。     

Measurement of solid propellant burning rates by analysis of ultrasonic full waveforms

The measurement of solid propellant burning rates using ultrasound requires the simultaneous acquisition and analysis of ultrasonic signals and pressure data simultaneously in a wide range of pressure values during the process of propellant burning. Recently, this method has been proposed as an effective approach based on an analysis of full waveforms of ultrasonic signals together with a laboratory prototype system in which the proposed approach has been implemented. However, this prototype system had limitations in terms of data processing speed and signal processing procedures. To overcome such limitations, in the present study, we develop a dedicated, high speed system that can acquire ultrasonic full waveforms and pressure data up to 2,000 times per second. Our system can also estimate the burning rate as a function of pressure using a special software based on ultrasonic full waveform analysis. This paper describes the approach adopted in this high speed system, along with the burning rate measurement results obtained from three propellants with different burning characteristics. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Dae-Eun Kim Sung-Jin Song received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea in 1981, a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 1983, and a Ph.D in Engineering Mechanics from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA in 1991. He has worked at Daewoo Heavy Industries, Ltd., Inchoen, Korea for 5 years from 1983, where he has been certified as ASNT Level III in RT, UT, MT and PT. He has worked at Chosun University, Gwangju, Korea as Assistant Professor for 5 years from 1993. Since 1998 he has been at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea and is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering.     

注塑模浇注系统位置的自动设计

注塑成型可以制作大量具有高精度和复杂型腔形状的制件,其中注塑模浇注系统位置的设定是整个模具设计中关键的一步,它决定了聚合物流动方向和流动平衡性。通过对型腔内前端熔体行为的研究,引入等效流长的概念,建立了单浇注系统位置优化问题。采用遗传算法自动搜索最佳浇注系统位置,使得不同主流动路径的等效流长差异最小,从而获得平衡的充填模式。通过两个算例表明,该方法可以快捷的得到优化的浇注系统位置。     

不同工艺参数与超声振动作用下成形制件的盐雾老化性能

为了对注塑成形制件老化因素进行深入分析,设计制造了带有超声辅助振动系统的注塑模具来成形底部带有标准拉伸试样的矩形壳体制件。选用等规聚丙烯材料进行了不同工艺参数和超声振动作用下的成形试验,并对试验获得的制件进行了中性盐雾老化试验。同时借助X射线衍射、傅里叶变换红外光谱分析、扫描电子显微镜观测及拉伸试验等方法,研究了熔体温度、模具温度、保压压力及超声功率变化对制件内部凝聚态结构的形成与其抗老化性能的影响。研究结果表明,升高熔体温度会使制件的抗盐雾老化性能下降,而提高模具温度和保压压力则可使制件的抗盐雾老化性能提升;增大超声功率虽可使制件内部的结晶度增加,但超声功率超过200 W时,制件的拉伸强度却大幅下降,可见过高的超声功率并不利于制件内部形成具有最佳抗老化性能的凝聚态结构。     

低压注塑机注射装置智能化温度控制研究

低压注塑机注射装置用于将塑化态的热熔胶注射至模腔内,其温度控制的稳定性和快速性关系到注塑制品质量。为研究该装置温度特性,提出了一种注射装置温控系统的近似模型,并采用自组织、自学习和自适应的径向基函数神经网络与PID控制相结合的控制策略。在该控制策略中,利用RBF神经网络提供的Jacobian矩阵信息实时调整PID控制参数。经仿真和测试证明该方法具有响应速度快、稳定性好的特点。