Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) has superior mechanical properties, water resistance, heat resistance, and ozone resistance. It can be applied to various products owing to its low hardness and high slip resistance properties. A grommet is one of the various products made using EPDM rubber. It is a main component of automobiles, in which it protects wires throughout the inside and outside of a vehicle body. The grommet, made of EPDM, has different mounting performance depending on the process parameters and the shape of the grommet. This study conducted optimization to improve the mounting performance of a grommet using EPDM materials. The physical properties of the main molding materials were investigated according to process parameters. A grommet was fabricated according to the process parameters of fabrication. Insertion force and separation force were examined through experiments. Nonlinear material constants were determined through uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests. The nonlinear analysis of the grommet was conducted, and a compound design that incorporated the shape parameters for the minimum load of each part was derived. Then, additional nonlinear analysis was performed. This was followed by a comparative analysis of the actual model through experimental evaluation.

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Abstract.The process variables such as time and temperature during the EPDM-injection molding not only change the physical properties of the raw material but also affect the insertion and separations forces when a grommet product is molded and mounted on a car body. Using the design of experiments method, the major factors in the injection molding process were considered to analyze their effects on the physical properties of the obtained EPDM materials. Test pieces were prepared under different process conditions, tensile strength and elongation were measured, and their correlation was analyzed.