Design of plastics injection molds for short-run production: a rapid prototyping approach

摘要

The main objective of this research project was to define rules and guidelines to design or redesign plastics injection molds for short-run production. In order to accomplish this goal, several rapid prototyping technologies were analyzed for possible applications to this field. This study also lead to the design and construction of a modular mold base for flexible fixturing of mold plates. To demonstrate and confirm the rules defined, two types of experimental molds were built and tested. In the first case, the part and the mold were concurrently redesigned for rapid CNC machining. In the second case, an innovative manufacturing technique that combines machining and casting was used to fabricate the mold. The results obtained from these experimental prototypes and tests show that the design rules work and can be applied to particular cases. The conclusions mention several new research ideas in the field of mold making and rapid tooling.