Abstract
Precision injection molding is an important technology for improving productivity and lowering costs in the fields of medical components, lenses and electrical connectors. The quality of injection molded parts is affected by various processing conditions such as filling time and packing pressure profile. It is difficult to consider all the variables at the same time for prediction of the quality. In this study, the genetic algorithm was used to obtain the optimal processing conditions for minimizing the volumetric shrinkage of molded parts. For a higher convergence rate, the method of design of experiments was used to analyze the relationship between processing conditions and volumetric shrinkage of molded parts, which served as analysis tool for the capability of searching optimal processing conditions but also greatly reduces the calculation time by utilizing the information of searching area. As a practical example, compact disks that require micron-level precision were chosen for the study.