Optimizing Laser Sintering Parameters and Cooling Channel Designs for Enhanced Injection Molding of Medical Tube Connectors

Respiratory equipment disconnections in hospitals pose severe risks, including hypoxia and mortality. Suboptimal tube connector quality, often worsened by traditional cooling mold designs, results in uneven thermal equilibrium, product deformation, and higher defect rates. This study focuses on optimizing laser sintering parameters and cooling channel designs to enhance the injection molding process for medical tube connectors. Using the Taguchi method with an L9 (3^4) orthogonal array, the effects of laser power, layer thickness, hatch spacing, and scanning speed on sintering quality were evaluated. Laser power emerged as the most influential factor, contributing 83.09% to sintering quality, followed by scanning speed (9.48%), layer thickness (5.81%), and hatch spacing (1.61%). The optimal parameters- 100% laser power, 40µ m layer thickness, 0.06 mm hatch spacing, and 200 mm/s scanning speed-produced mold cores with minimal pores, enhanced structural integrity, and consistent quality. Injection molding trials compared conformal cooling, traditional cooling, and no-cooling designs. Conformal cooling reduced cycle times by 15 seconds ( 33.1 vs. 48.1 seconds) and improved taper accuracy from 0.57 mm to 0.89 mm , reducing dimensional defects by 40%. Both cooling designs met ISO-5356 standards for length, but conformal cooling achieved higher stability and accuracy, aligning closely with the ideal taper of 2.2 mm . Molds without cooling channels exhibited significantly longer cycle times and higher defect rates, underscoring the importance of effective cooling systems in precision manufacturing. This study confirms the advantages of conformal cooling for enhancing injection molding efficiency and product quality in medical device production. Future research should explore alternative cooling geometries and computational simulations. Keywords: Laser Sintering Optimization, Conformal Cooling Channels, Medical Tube Connectors, Injection Molding, ISO-5356 Compliance.