Additive Manufacturing and Mold Building

Originally Aired - Wednesday, May 8 • 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM

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Location: W331A

Event Information

Title: Additive Manufacturing and Mold Building

Description:

Join us as we discuss with some of the leaders in the additive manufacturing world to understand the benefits that additive manufacturing provides in today’s mold building environment and what the future holds for these technologies as well.

Topics to Consider:

Material Selection and Performance: How do different additive manufacturing materials impact the performance and longevity of injection molds? What criteria should manufacturers consider when selecting materials for specific applications?

HTS
Mantle
Emphasis collaborative effort between supplier and mold builders

Surface Finish and Post-Processing: What are the current challenges associated with achieving high-quality surface finishes in additive manufacturing? How can post-processing techniques be optimized to enhance surface quality and functionality of injection molds?

Accede – 100% of finishing work
West Minster
Mantle – minimize finishing need (print and machine simultaneously)
Advancements in raw material powder quality
HTS – smooth channels possible – polish channels (finish) in halves and fusion bond

Scalability and Production Efficiency: As additive manufacturing technologies continue to evolve, how scalable are current solutions for large-scale production of injection molds? What strategies can be employed to improve production efficiency and throughput?

Scale from production capacity
Scale from size requirement
- 200x200 limit from printing standpoint (Mantle)
Fusion bonding allows up to 700-800mm
Accede size around 200x200 (in general) cavity block size
Production environment issues – waiting for a blank to ship rather than start immediately
- Can impact delivery
Add blank cost to machining
Struggle to sell the additional cost, delivery, in contrast to understanding technical benefits
- Buy-in can be difficult
Delivery issue can be minimized through on-site printing ability

Design Optimization and Simulation: How can advanced design optimization tools and simulation techniques be leveraged to maximize the performance and efficiency of injection molds produced through additive manufacturing? What role does digital twin technology play in this process?

West Minster – Mold simulation process
Accede – FEA analysis from HTS

Steel temp difference from improved design
Utilized to determine cycle time savings

How to deal with infinite design possibilities

Iterative process
Legacy learning
Targets for pressure drop, temperature drop, heat transfer
AI being applied in other applications but not there for injection molding

Levels for adoption

Intuitive to start
Simulation has been a challenge from an accuracy standpoint
Initial input data is critical to success

Integration and Workflow: What are the key considerations for integrating additive manufacturing into existing injection mold building workflows? How can collaboration and communication between design, engineering, and manufacturing teams be enhanced to streamline the process?

Accede – workflows impact by waiting for a blank rather than vertical process

Important for customers to understand and be willing to utilize
Education for end customers not there when understanding/realizing benefits
Will highlight areas of conformal cooling needs on new projects and try to convince customers – partnering with the additive companies to implement with minimal impact to timeline/delivery

West Minster

Level: Expo Plus, Expo Premier

Type: Mold Building Session