For the past two years,DME,a Milacron brand,has offered custom core and cavity inserts with TruCool conformal cooling,made by the direct metal laser melting 3D printing process.Recently,DME launched standard mold components incorporating conformal cooling technology.DME is starting with standard hot and cold sprue bushings and is working on other compo-nents,such as core pins. David Moore,business development manager for DME,says standardized components with conformal cooling can provide big benefits at lower upfront costs thanks to bulk production.”You don't have to go through that analysis process;you don't have to go through a design and trial phase.It gives molders the freedom to add conformal cooling as a standard component instead of a custom-designed solution.” DME's entire B Series of cold sprue bushings with 1-in.-diam.shank will be available with conformal cooling.The components still feature the same external geometry,sprue taper and diameter,allowing them to act as a drop-in replace- ments for their conventional counterparts.The only difference is the addition of two ports for cooling inlet and the outlet.”They're pretty much plug and play,”Moore says.”You can pull an old one out and put a new one in.”Molders or moldmakers would need to mill a channel in the back of the cavity block to accommodate the bushing's water circuit.The bushings are currently printed from MS1 maraging steel,with a stainless version coming soon,and DME is also outfitting its A Series of cold sprue bushings,which have a 3/4-in.shank,with conformal cooling channels.
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