What Is an Injection Molding Prototype?
The rapid prototyping technology of injection mold can accurately make the core and cavity of the mold, and it can also be used directly in the injection process to make plastic samples in order to find and correct errors.
Rapid prototyping of injection molds
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- The rapid prototyping technology of injection mold can accurately make the core and cavity of the mold, and it can also be used directly in the injection process to make plastic samples in order to find and correct errors.
- I. Rapid mold manufacturing Although the rapid prototyping technology has not been available for a long time, but due to the huge benefits it brings to the manufacturing industry, the application of this technology has become increasingly widespread, especially a leap in the design and manufacture of molds. Rapid prototyping technology can accurately make the core and cavity of the mold, and it can also be used directly in the injection process to make plastic samples to find and correct errors. Due to the application of the rapid prototyping technology, the design and manufacturing of molds are gradually becoming more digital and rapid, making mold manufacturing a step forward in the process of shortening the cycle and reducing costs.
Most of the rapid prototyping technologies are based on solid models produced by rapid prototyping, that is, the prototype (master mold) uses copying methods (such as metal spraying, electroplating, composite material casting, precision casting, etc.) to rapidly manufacture the main working parts of the mold (convex, concave mold (Or cavity, mold core), the manufacturing cycle is generally 1/5 to 1/10 of the traditional CNC cutting method, but the cost is only 1/3 to 1/5.
A variety of process methods have been developed according to mold materials, production costs, RP prototype materials, production batches, and mold accuracy requirements. The current rapid molding methods generally include indirect molding method and direct molding method. Most of the methods based on RP rapid manufacturing molds are indirect molding method. Depending on the material, the molds produced by the indirect molding method include soft molds, bridge molds, and hard molds. Soft tooling usually refers to silicone rubber molds. Prototypes made with technologies such as SLA, FDM, LOM, or SLS are turned into a silicone rubber mold, and the two-component polyurethane is poured into the mold, and the required parts are obtained after curing. Bridge tooling generally refers to epoxy molds that can be directly injection molded. Compared with traditional injection molds, the cost of epoxy resin molds is only a fraction of that of traditional methods, and the production cycle is greatly reduced. The life of the mold is less than that of the steel mold, but it is higher than the silicone mold, which can reach 1000 to 5000 pieces, which can meet the needs of small and medium batch production. Hard tooling usually refers to steel molds, that is, metal molds are manufactured in an indirect way and metal molds are processed directly by rapid prototyping.
The rapid molding technology has a short molding cycle, simple process, easy promotion, low molding cost, precision and life that can meet a specific functional need, and good comprehensive economic benefits. It is a fast, convenient and practical mold manufacturing technology. It is especially suitable for new product development trial production, process verification and function verification, as well as multi-variety small batch production.
Competition between enterprises is intensifying, and product development cycle requirements are getting shorter and shorter, which provides development opportunities and development space for rapid molding technology. With the development of industrialized production, rapid molding technology has been more and more widely valued by product developers and mold circles. Research on it is in the ascendant. New technological achievements are constantly emerging, showing a dynamic development trend and strong vitality.