Additive manufacturing for automotive tooling with conformal cooling

注塑成型工艺是生产汽车零部件的常用工艺。聚合物组件的注射成型面临着对零件质量和生产率的越来越高的要求。对注塑模具进行适当的热管理是实现速度和质量同步提高的关键。模具中设计的冷却通道管理塑料流出的热流。目前的制造方法对用于热回收的冷却通道的配置有严格的限制。通过使用添加剂制造(AM)来自由创建内部几何形状允许制造具有复杂内部冷却通道的模具。这些冷却通道可以被设计成与成型型腔保形。AM工艺产生的保形冷却通道提供了在整个工艺周期中更精确地控制成型腔温度的能力。这样的温度控制有可能缩短周期时间，生产出残余应力更低的零件。CO-EX-TEC热衷于推动AM技术的发展，为设计具有保形冷却通道的工具和模具提供更大的灵活性，从而缩短制造的总周期时间，并在生产过程中改善工具的冷却性能。该项目与麦克马斯特大学合作，将为工艺改进提供极好的机会，从而利用AM技术生产具有保形冷却通道的高性能模具。成功完成后，本次研究合作的结果将增强CO-ex-TEC在汽车补给市场的竞争地位。

Injection molding process is commonly used to produce automotive components. Injection molding of polymer components facesincreasing demands for part quality and production rate. Proper thermal management of the injection molding tooling is key toachieving simultaneous improvements in rate and quality. The devised cooling passages in the tooling manage the heat flow out ofthe plastic. Current fabrication methods place severe limitations on the configuration of the cooling channels used for heatwithdrawal.The freedom to create internal geometry by the use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) allows for fabrication of molds with complexinternal cooling passages. These cooling channels can be designed to be conformal to the molding cavity. Conformal coolingchannels produced by the AM process provide the ability to more accurately control the temperature of the molding cavitythroughout the process cycle. Such temperature control has the potential to shorten cycle time and to produce parts with lowerresidual stresses.CO-EX-TEC is keen to move the AM technology forward to open the door for more flexibility in designing tools and molds withconformal cooling channels that reduce the total cycle time of fabrication and improve the cooling performance of the tool duringproduction. This project in partnership with McMaster University, will provide an excellent opportunity for process improvementresulting in the use of AM technology to produce high performance dies with conformal cooling channels. Upon successfulcompletion, the results of this research collaboration will enhance the competitive positioning of CO-EX-TEC in the automotivesupplier market place.