Abstract
3D Printed Injection Moulds (3DIM), commonly used for low volume production and prototyping purposes, are known to fail abruptly and have a comparatively shorter life than conventional moulds. Investigating the underlying critical factors affecting failure may help in reducing the risk of abrupt failures and possibly prolong the 3DIM tool life. A hypothesis that the cooling time of the Injection Moulding (IM) process is a critical factor for 3DIM tool failure has been proposed. The failure hypothesis has been validated by theoretical calculations, FEA simulations and experimental investigations. Experiments were performed using two different materials for the 3DIM tool (Visijet M3-X and Digital ABS) and an engineering thermoplastic (Lexan 943-A) as the moulding material. Results showed that cooling time was a critical factor on tool life and managing the thermal loading on a 3DIM tool could lead to increased tool life. The paper identifies cooling time as the critical factor affecting 3DIM tool life and presents a cooling regime that could possibly lead to prolonged tool life.
Highlights
Injection Moulding (IM) is a polymer processing technique commonly used to mass manufacture parts with complicated geometries for a wide range of industries, 35% by weight of all polymers are processed by IM [1]
A flat 1.5 mm thick circular plate with different size core holes was designed, the wall thickness was uniform across the whole part and a standard 1.5◦ draft angle was used on the raised features
A flat 1.5 mm thick circular plate with different size core holes was designed, the wall thickness was uniform across the whole part and a standard 1.5° draft angle was used on the raised features
Summary
Polymer 3D Printed Injection Moulds.Injection Moulding (IM) is a polymer processing technique commonly used to mass manufacture parts with complicated geometries for a wide range of industries, 35% by weight of all polymers are processed by IM [1]. The complexity of the part and budget the common types of moulds used are production moulds (steel) used for high volume (>100,000 parts), insert moulds (aluminium) used for medium volume (10,000–100,000 parts), and rapid moulds (polymer-based 3D printing) used for low volume (10–1000 parts) [3,4]. To reduce lead times and cost, industries are experimenting with the use of polymer-based Rapid Tooling (RT) processes to quickly produce mould inserts at relatively cheaper costs compared to traditionally machined mould inserts [7–9]. These mould inserts are used in a MUD base, Polymers 2022, 14, 520. These mould inserts are used in a MUD base, Polymers 2022, 14, 520. https://
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