Designing and Fabrication of Polymer Injection Mold using Additive Manufacturing

Injection molding is very important process used to make plastic products at large scale. Heated plastic is injected into the metal mold to fabricate desired products. Metal molds are prepared through machining process which is: expensive process (depending upon the shape of the mold)

Project Title

Designing and Fabrication of Polymer Injection Mold using Additive Manufacturing

Project Area of Specialization

Mechanical Engineering

Project Summary

Injection molding is very important process used to make plastic products at large scale. Heated plastic is injected into the metal mold to fabricate desired products. Metal molds are prepared through machining process which is:

• expensive process (depending upon the shape of the mold)
• Time consuming (depending upon the size and complexity of the mold)

Metal molds justify their cost in mass production but they are the best option when one desires low volume of products. Low volume products are produced usually for:

• Prototyping
• Market testers for new product
• Testing for design validation in R&D department of firms

Therefore, polymer mold fabricated through 3D printing can deliver low volume products effectively using optimum resources. A mold is 3D printed for CPU cooling fan as a prototype to check its feasibility. The mentioned mold is able to give fair enough product (cooling fan) at afforable cost and time as compared to the conventional injection mold. 

Project Objectives

• To develop a CAD model of the Mold of a CPU cooling fan.
• To fabricate the designed Mold using additive manufacturing process.
• To evaluate the lead time and cost of the fabricated Mold in comparison to the traditional Mold.

Project Implementation Method

The mold is manufactured through SLA (Stereolithography) method of additive manufacturing using "QTS Strong HT" material. This material is imported from "Taiwan". The 3D printer used in the SLA printing of mold is Phrozen Sonic Mighty 4K. The process parameters are given below:

 

After 3D printing of the mold, it was UV cured and thermal cured so that it can gain the desired strength and other mechanical properties. After curing process, the mold is ready for application. The picture of the fabricated mold is attached below:

 

Benefits of the Project

The benfits of the 3D printed mold are:

• Short lead time of fabrication
• Cost effective for low production
• Complex shapes can be generated easily and accurately
• Can redue product concept to market time
• Very useful for R&D of the firm where design iterations are possible

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The deliverable of the project is 3D printed mold of CPU cooling fan whose model number is DF0802512SEL. There are two plares of the mold: 

• Core plate
• Cavity plate

The dimensions of the mold are 115*115 mm with thickness of 30 mm. The complete drawings of the mold are available. 

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Manufacturing

Other Industries

Others

Core Technology

3D/4D Printing

Other Technologies

Others

Sustainable Development Goals

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Responsible Consumption and Production

Required Resources

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