Thermal Optimization of Injection Molds Produced by Layered Manufacturing Techniques

摘要

Producing injection tooling with cooling channels of almost any form seems to be one of the most promising advantages of Layered Manufacturing Techniques (like Selective Laser Sintering). It could be efficiently exploited to achieve higher productivity or better quality parts in injection molding. Unfortunately, at the present time, the lack of data-processing tools to design optimal cooling systems still prevents us from fully benefiting from this new potential. The first objective of this paper is to present a methodology for the optimal design of cooling systems in three-dimensional injection molds. Our optimization process is based on a finite element model of the mold and on the standard gradient method. In the second part of this paper, we compare a conventional mold and a mold equipped with a cooling system optimized by means of the proposed methodology. The comparison is carried out thanks to an appropriate protocol. The conclusion is that the optimization of the cooling system doubled the productivity of the mold.