Building Soft Tooling Molds using Rapid Prototyping and Different Methods of Construction in a University Environment

摘要

The objective of this investigation is to determine an optimal and efficient method of building soft tooling molds for injection molding in a university environment. The procedure for this investigation will involve using rapid prototype models and different methods of construction. Because the soft tooling will be intended for universal use between multiple university injection molding machines, the molds will be designed for direct use with a small machine or as a cavity for a large insert mold. Each construction method will be evaluated on multiple properties, such as cost, production time, surface finish, quantity of parts, and thermal conductivity.