Warpage is one of the most significant defects that affects the final quality of the plastic injection molded components because it can lead to dimensional and practical discrepancies. This defect depends on several factors, such as the mechanical properties of materials, the molding injection parameters, and so on. In this paper, in order to optimize plastic injection molding process parameters for a functional component in the automotive industry, experimental design of Taguchi method was used. Taguchi method is a useful method to determine the best level-values for the effective factors. It can also calculate the most effective factor and the percentage of distribution of each factor. Also in this study, the finite element simulation method was used with the aim of predicting the injection molding conditions in preproduction phase. Furthermore, for the purpose of validating the obtained results from numerical analysis the component was made and tested. According to results, it can be concluded that the most effective factors on the warpage defect are cooling time and mold temperature. The holing pressure and melt temperature had no effect. The optimal value for cooling time is 45 sec, and also for mold temperature, holding pressure, and melt temperature are 33˚C, 20 bar 265˚C, respectively.

Warpage, Plastic injection molding, Taguchi method, Finite element simulation;