Manufacturers who use methods of producing dies and molds, such as stamping, casting and plastic injection, face physical phenomena such as the contraction and dilation effect, which makes it difficult to adjust the CAD geometry. The complete measurement of the surfaces of the pieces mold inspection miami and their tools through 3D scanning can facilitate the evaluation of the influence of the phenomena on the piece. The results obtained by 3D scanning can provide good insight during the iterative design process of the tools; in addition, the precise supervision of the geometry of the dies and molds, as well as of the pieces produced in a corresponding way, helps to reduce the number of design iterations and to produce pieces that perfectly match the CAD reference.
The challenge
The process of manufacturing molds is extensive, requires precise planning and execution that must be adapted to the customer’s deadlines, their rotation and the desired expectations for the quality of the piece. A mold is made up of many complex cavities, inserts and cooling channels. Molding tools must be able to withstand repeated impacts and exposure to high temperature polymers, which makes wear resistance a critical feature. The main challenges to overcome are the high costs of tools and long delivery times.
Injection molds are really complex pieces. We immediately identify the advantages offered by metal printing, mainly the ability to produce molding tools quickly, with cooling channels unthinkable with other technologies and achieving much lighter pieces that reduce fatigue in the injection operation. What before we took 2 weeks to produce, now we get it in a couple of days. We have managed to increase considerably the productive capacity and the diversification, fundamental aspects that the current industry requires
About the injection molding process
Plastic injection molding is a manufacturing process to produce parts in high volume. It works by injecting molten plastic material under high pressure into the cavities inside the mold to shape a piece. For the same productions, the injection molding offers lower costs per piece, achieving repeatability in the results and minimum waste of the injected material. Around 32% of all processed plastics go through injection molding processes, making it a predominant manufacturing method
Engraving
Compared to the engraving, a piece of injection molding can usually replace several pieces. The injection molding usually requires fewer assembly operations, can be done with smaller dimensional limits, can have practically the desired variation in the thickness of the sections, involves less expenses in cuts, and can produce more complex shapes and unsuitable shapes for the taxed. The taxed, on the other hand, have properties of the forged metals; they can be produced in steel and alloys not suitable for press-molding and, in their simplest forms, they are produced faster and can weigh less than press-molded parts.
