Injection mold cooling with shape
The shape of the injection mold is different from that of the traditional cooling method. The shape of the cooling channel changes with the shape of the injection mold, instead of the traditional straight line.The 3D printing technology can avoid the restriction of cross drilling in the construction of cooling waterways. The 3D printed cooling waterways can also be designed with different cooling loops according to the cooling requirements, so as to conduct heat dissipation at a consistent speed, so as to promote the uniformity of heat dissipation.
For mold manufacturers, since the mould quality directly determines the efficiency of the injection molding production, and determine the quality of the products, so as to determine the added value of products, therefore, how the minimum cycle time and effective cooling of plastic products, become a conformal cooling of injection mold design and manufacturing process of key factor, and cooling during this period played an important role.
The principle of shape cooling is: in a uniform and continuous way, the temperature of the plastic parts is rapidly reduced. The injection parts cannot be taken out of the mold during the cooling process until they are cooled enough, and then the injection parts are taken out of the mold.Any hot spot will delay the injection cycle of the injection molded parts, may lead to warping and sag of the injection molded parts after demoulding, and may damage the quality of the surface of the molded parts.Rapid cooling is carried by the passage of the coolant through the mold to take away the heat from the injection part. The speed and uniformity of this cooling effect is determined by the fluid passage and the rate at which the cooling fluid passes through it.
In traditional molds, cooling waterways are used to create an internal network by cross-drilling and to adjust the flow rate and direction through a built-in fluid plug.The application of metal 3D printing technology in mold cooling waterway manufacturing breaks through the limitation of cross drilling method on cooling waterway design.Mold design firms can now design suboidal waterways closer to the mold cooling surface, with smooth corners, faster flow rates and higher cooling efficiency.
The traditional cooling channels in the die are realized through secondary processing.By cross-drilling, the internal network of the straight pipe is produced, and the flow rate and direction are adjusted through the built-in fluid plug. This method has its limitations. The shape of the waterway network is limited, so the cooling channel is far from the surface of the mold, making the cooling efficiency low.Not only that, but the additional processing and assembly times, and the risk of clogging up a network of blind spots;Moreover, in complex cases, molds need to be cut into several parts for processing to reserve cooling channels, and then pieced together into a single mold, leading to additional manufacturing processes and shortening the die's life.
Conformal cooling mode and the traditional cooling way difference is that the shape of the cooling water channel with the appearance of injection molding products change, is no longer a straight line, the cooling channel to solve the traditional cooling channel and the mold cavity surface distance inconsistent problem, can make injection molding products have uniform cooling, cooling efficiency is higher.
3D printing has freed people from the limitations of cross-drilling.It is now possible to design internal channels closer to the mold's cooling surface, with smooth corners and faster flow, increasing the efficiency of heat transfer to the coolant;Different cooling loops can also be designed according to the cooling requirements, aiming to conduct heat dissipation at a consistent speed to promote the uniformity of heat dissipation.The amount of coolant flow is critical to the rate of mold cooling and smooth corners must be designed to reduce pressure loss along the channel.