Injection molding machine.

Injection molding machine (IMM) is used to create complex shape plastic parts with thin walls in a variety of sizes. Some common examples are plastic cups, containers, toys,electrical components etc. The global consumption of plastic materials has increased from245 million tons in 2008 to 312 million tons in 2014 and is increasing continuously. Differenttypes of IMMs are currently in use and many innovations are regularly introduced. This project aimed to design and fabricate a low maintenance, fully electric miniinjection molding machine with short cycle time for fabrication of small, discrete plastic parts. A mini IMM was hence designed involving selection of screw, barrel, motors, platens, rods and structural material. The IMM achieves the melting temperature of Polypropylene (thermoplastic) at the extruder tip. Initially, a CAD design was made using Solidworks followed by thermal and structural analysis of different components using Ansys Workbench. Once the design was successful and the required specifications were finalized, market was surveyed and manufacturing of different parts was completed. The mini IMM was assembled and its electrical power system, heating system and related control mechanism using Arduino were also developed. Thus, a low maintenance, fully-electric mini IMM for fabricating various discrete plastic parts was successfully fabricated. This IMM is controlled through a use-friendly interface displayed on laptop screen for manufacturing of various discrete plastic parts. This machine is ideal for production of small plastic parts, offering a very short set-up.