scholarly journals Rapid Development of an Injection Mold with High Cooling Performance Using Molding Simulation and Rapid Tooling Technology

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 311
Author(s):  
Chil-Chyuan Kuo ◽  
Trong-Duc Nguyen ◽  
Yi-Jun Zhu ◽  
Shi-Xun Lin
Keyword(s):  
Polyurethane Foam ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Rapid Tooling ◽  
Injection Mold ◽  
Conformal Cooling ◽  
Cooling Performance ◽  
Suitable Material ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Tooling Technology

Rapid tooling technology (RTT) provides an alternative approach to quickly provide wax injection molds for the required products since it can reduce the time to market compared with conventional machining approaches. Removing conformal cooling channels (CCCs) is the key technology for manufacturing injection mold fabricated by rapid tooling technology. In this study, three different kinds of materials were used to fabricate CCCs embedded in the injection mold. This work explores a technology for rapid development of injection mold with high cooling performance. It was found that wax is the most suitable material for making CCCs. An innovative method for fabricating a large intermediary mold with both high load and supporting capacities for manufacturing a large rapid tooling using polyurethane foam was demonstrated. A trend equation for predicting the usage amount of polyurethane foam was proposed. The production cost savings of about 50% can be obtained. An optimum conformal cooling channel design obtained by simulation is proposed. Three injection molds with different cooling channels for injection molding were fabricated by RTT. Reductions in the cooling time by about 89% was obtained. The variation of the results between the experiment and the simulation was investigated and analyzed.

Characterization of a direct metal printed injection mold with different conformal cooling channels

2020 ◽  
Vol 107 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1223-1238
Author(s):  
Chil-Chyuan Kuo ◽  
Zi-Fan Jiang ◽  
Xin-Yi Yang ◽  
Shao-Xuan Chu ◽  
Jia-Qi Wu
Keyword(s):  
Injection Mold ◽  
Conformal Cooling ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Conformal Cooling Channels

Development of green conformal cooling channels for rapid tooling

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 109-125
Author(s):  
Chil-Chyuan Kuo ◽  
Zheng-Yan You ◽  
Seng-Jie Chang ◽  
Jie-Dui Liao ◽  
Shao-Ting Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Tooling ◽  
Conformal Cooling ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Conformal Cooling Channels

Analysis and Manufacturing of Conformal Cooling Channels in Injection Mold

2014 ◽  
Vol 651-653 ◽  
pp. 630-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo Qiang Gao ◽  
Yu Shan Liu ◽  
Yu Jun Cai
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Injection Mold ◽  
Conformal Cooling ◽  
Three Dimensional Printing ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Conformal Cooling Channels ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Conventional Cooling ◽  
Dimensional Printing

In view of the cooling difficulty in complex injection mold, the difference between conventional cooling channels and Conformal Cooling Channels (CCC) is researched. CCC is superior to conventional cooling channels on cooling effect according to the simulation analysis of plastic flow based on Autodesk Moldflow Insight software. Considered the manufacturing difficulty of CCC, an approach which uses three-dimensional printing and investment casting is put forward in the end.

scholarly journals A Low-Cost and Highly Efficient Method of Reducing Coolant Leakage for Direct Metal Printed Injection mold with Cooling Channels Using Optimum Heat Treatment Process Procedures

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chil-Chyuan Kuo ◽  
Shao-Xuan Qiu ◽  
Xin-Yi Yang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Treatment ◽  
Injection Molding ◽  
Efficient Method ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Injection Mold ◽  
Conformal Cooling ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Highly Efficient ◽  
Optimum Heat ◽  
Optimum Heat Treatment

Abstract Metal additive manufacturing (MAM) provides lots of benefits and potentials in manufacturing molds or dies with sophisticated conformal cooling channels. It is known that the conformal cooling technology provides effective cooling to reduce cycle time for increasing productivity. Ordinarily, mold inserts fabricated by general printing procedures will result in coolant leakage in the injection molding process. The yield in the manufacturing of fully dense injection molding tools was limited to the very narrow working widow. In addition, high costs of fully dense injection mold fabricated by MAM constitute the major obstacle to its application in the mold or die industry. In general, the high cost of MAM is approximately 50-70% more expensive than conventional computer numerical control machining. In this study, a low-cost and highly efficient method of reducing coolant leakage for direct metal printed injection mold with cooling channels was proposed. This new method employs general process parameters to manufacture the green injection mold rapidly and then uses optimum heat treatment (HT) procedures to improve microstructure of the green injection mold. The results of this study revealed that optimum HT procedures can prevent coolant leakage and save manufacturing time of the injection mold fabricated by direct metal laser sintering. The evolution mechanisms of microstructure were investigated experimentally. The save in the injection mold manufacture time about 67% can be obtained.

scholarly journals A Simple Method of Reducing Coolant Leakage for Direct Metal Printed Injection Mold with Conformal Cooling Channels Using General Process Parameters and Heat Treatment

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 7258
Author(s):  
Chil-Chyuan Kuo ◽  
Shao-Xuan Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Process Parameters ◽  
Injection Mold ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
General Process ◽  
Conformal Cooling ◽  
Cooling Stage ◽  
Cooling Channels ◽  
Metal Printing ◽  
Conformal Cooling Channels ◽  
Wax Injection

Direct metal printing is a promising technique for manufacturing injection molds with complex conformal cooling channels from maraging steel powder, which is widely applied in automotive or aerospace industries. However, two major disadvantages of direct metal printing are the narrow process window and length of time consumed. The fabrication of high-density injection molds is frequently applied to prevent coolant leakage during the cooling stage. In this study, we propose a simple method of reducing coolant leakage for a direct-metal-printed injection mold with conformal cooling channels by combining injection mold fabrication with general process parameters, as well as solution and aging treatment (SAT). This study comprehensively investigates the microstructural evolution of the injection mold after SAT using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. We found that the surface hardness of the injection mold was enhanced from HV 189 to HV 546 as the Ni-Mo precipitates increased from 12.8 to 18.5%. The size of the pores was reduced significantly due to iron oxide precipitates because the relative density of the injection mold increased from 99.18 to 99.72%. The total production time of the wax injection mold without coolant leakage during the cooling stage was only 62% that of the production time of the wax injection mold fabricated with high-density process parameters. A significant savings of up to 46% of the production cost of the injection mold was obtained.

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